The Court of Appeal Lagos Division on Friday upheld the conviction of Mr. Ngene Linus Chibuike, to two years imprisonment and the forfeiture of his $2,506,998 to the federal government.

Justice Ibrahim N. Buba had on February 9, 2016 in a judgment convicted and sentenced Mr. Chibuike to two years imprisonment and ordered the forfeiture of the undeclared sum of $2,506,998 The convict was arrested on October 8, 2015 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport during an outbound clearance for a journey to China en-route Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with an undeclared sum of $2,506,998.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), arraigned the convict, on December 22, 2015 on one count charge for “falsely declaring the sum of $11,500 instead of $2,506,998 which he had in his possession to the officers of the Nigeria Customs Service as required under the provision of Section 2(3) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended by Act No.1 of 2012) and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 2(5) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011(as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012).”

Chibuike had pleaded not guilty to the charge and the matter went into full trial. Justice Buba found him guilty and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. Not satisfied, the convict approached the court of appeal for reprieve, which was refused today. The prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho thanked the appellate court for affirming the judgment of the lower court in the interest of justice.

Source: Andrew Orolua
The Daily Time News