The Lagos State High Court sitting in Tapa has convicted and sentenced five persons to seven years’ imprisonment each for their involvement in a ₦117.7 million fraud perpetrated against Chi Limited.
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Justice Kudirat A. Jose delivered the judgment on Thursday, September 3, 2026, convicting Yinka Salawu, Joshua Oluremi Daramola, Raji Ahmed, Afolabi Israel Olusegun and Muraina Olanrewaju Abdullahi.
The convicts were prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants, alongside other persons who remain at large, fraudulently obtained money from Chi Limited by representing that the funds were payments for goods and services purportedly supplied to the company.
One of the counts stated that Salawu, also known as Mr Yinka James Christopher, and the other defendants conspired sometime in 2009 to obtain ₦81,359,922 from Chi Limited under the false pretence that the money represented payment for goods and services supplied and rendered to the company.
The prosecution maintained that the representation was false and that the alleged offence violated Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.
During the trial, the prosecution called 17 witnesses drawn from the EFCC, Nigeria Police Force, financial institutions and Chi Limited.
Several documentary exhibits were also tendered to establish the prosecution’s case against the defendants.
At the conclusion of the trial, Justice Jose found the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh defendants guilty on Counts One, Two and Three and convicted them accordingly.
The second, third and eighth defendants were, however, discharged and acquitted.
Following the convictions, prosecuting counsel M.S. Owede urged the court to invoke Section 11 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act and order the convicts to refund Chi Limited the sums stated in Counts Two and Three, totalling ₦117,755,061.
Owede also asked the court to order the sale of properties belonging to Salawu and direct that the proceeds be paid to Chi Limited. Alternatively, the prosecution sought the outright forfeiture of the properties to the company.
Delivering the sentence, Justice Jose ordered each of the five convicts to serve seven years in prison without an option of fine.
The judge, however, directed that the periods already spent by the convicts in custody should be deducted from their respective seven-year sentences.
“The convicts will be given credit for the periods they have already spent in custody. All periods spent in prison shall be deducted from the seven-year terms imposed by the court,” Justice Jose ruled.
On restitution, the judge relied on Section 297 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law and ordered the convicts to repay Chi Limited the amounts contained in the charges.
“All monies already paid shall be deducted from the amounts to be restituted,” the judge added.
The case arose after the convicts obtained ₦81,359,922 from Chi Limited on the representation that they had supplied goods and rendered services to the company.
Investigations established that the goods and services were not delivered and the money was not refunded to the company.
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACIarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
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