A former manager at an Onitsha branch of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Placidus Nwachukwu, has been sentenced to 121 years in prison after being found guilty of charges brought against him by the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He was accused of diverting a customer’s ₦112,100,000 to his private account.
According to the charge sheet read out in court, “Between February 2009 and November 2014 in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nwachukwu Placidus, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of ₦112,100,000 from Idemili Microfinance Bank under the false pretense that he had deposited the said money in a fixed deposit account with First City Monument Bank PLC, knowing this to be false, thereby committing an offense.”
Placidus was first arraigned on March 27, 2018 on 16-count charges including forgery, theft, obtaining by false pretense, and uttering.
He pleaded “not guilty“.
EFCC presented four witnesses and several documents during trial.
The Sentencing
Delivering her judgement on Friday May 4, Justice S. N. Odili of the Anambra State High Court, Onitsha said she was convinced “the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.” Placidus, she ordered, shall spend nine years in jail on one count, four years on another count, and nine on the remaining counts. He was acquitted on two counts. The jail terms will however run concurrently.
The Judge also ordered him to refund to the microfinance bank the whole sum.
How It All Began
Placidus was a manager with an FCMB branch in Onitsha. In that capacity, he received several deposits from Idemili Microfinance Bank on trust to the tune of ₦112,100,000 as fixed deposit with FCMB to earn interest. However, upon demand, FCMB had no record of such deposits. The microfinance bank then promptly reported to the anti-graft agency.
EFCC swung into action to investigate only to discover that the fixed deposit certificates issued to the petitioner by Placidus on behalf of his bank were all fake, and he had indeed diverted the money for personal use.
The concurrency of his jail terms means Mr Placidus may be out of jail in 10 years or less.
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