He found Kalu guilty on four of the five counts and sentenced him to four years and two months imprisonment.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of Ugenyi Kalu, a former banker, for fraud.
EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, disclosed the development in a statement issued on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
Justice R.A. Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, delivered the judgment on February 12, 2025.
Kalu, who was the head of the Lagos Region of NEXIM Bank, was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on official corruption and gratification. The charges stemmed from his receipt of N4,000,000 from Obi Ogoh, a client of the bank, in connection with a loan granted to Sevirg AgroAllied Mills Ltd by NEXIM Bank.
According to one of the charges, “Ugenyi Kalu, sometime in November 2016 in Lagos within the Lagos Judicial Division, being the head of Lagos Region of NEXIM Bank, received monetary benefit for yourself in the sum of N4,000,000 (Four Million Naira) from one Obi Ogoh on account of the loan availed to his company Sevirg AgroAllied Mills Ltd by NEXIM Bank: thereby committing an offence bordering on “official corruption contrary to Section 8(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under Section 8(1)(b)ii of the same law.”
Kalu pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges, prompting a trial during which the prosecution, led by counsel G.C. Ofulue, called six witnesses, including two of Kalu’s former colleagues at NEXIM Bank, who testified against him.
In his judgment, Justice Oshodi ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. He found Kalu guilty on four of the five counts and sentenced him to four years and two months imprisonment.
The court, however, gave him the option to pay a fine of N20,850,000 (Twenty million, eight hundred and fifty thousand naira) in place of the prison term.