Justice S. N. Odili of the Anambra State High Court in Onitsha, Anambra State, has handed down a sentence of 121 years imprisonment to Nwachukwu Placidus, a former manager at the First City Monument Bank branch in Onitsha.
The conviction came after Placidus was found guilty of diverting N112,100,000 in fixed deposit funds from a customer for his personal benefit. Placidus was charged with 16 counts of forgery, stealing, obtaining by false pretense, and uttering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Enugu Zonal Command on March 27, 2018.
One of the charges stated that Placidus fraudulently obtained N112,100,000 from Idemili Microfinance Bank between February 2009 and November 2014 by falsely claiming to have deposited the money in a fixed account with First City Monument Bank PLC.
During the trial proceedings, the EFCC, represented by Mainforce Ekwu, presented four witnesses and submitted numerous relevant documents as evidence, all of which were accepted by the court.
Justice Odili, in his ruling, declared that the prosecution had successfully proven the case without a shadow of a doubt. Consequently, the convict was sentenced to nine years in prison for count 3, four years for count 4, and nine years each for counts 5 to 16, with counts 1 and 2 resulting in acquittal. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Additionally, the court mandated the convict to reimburse the specified amount to the victim, Idemili Microfinance Bank. Placidus’ journey to the Correctional Centre commenced following allegations by the petitioner, Idemili Microfinance Bank LTD, that N112,100,000 was entrusted to him while serving as the branch manager of FCMB in Onitsha for a fixed deposit. However, upon attempting to withdraw the deposit, the bank claimed no knowledge of the funds.
Upon receiving the complaint, the EFCC initiated an investigation which uncovered that the convict had misappropriated the funds for personal gain and provided the petitioner with a counterfeit Fixed Deposit Certificate.
