BREAKING: Former Acting Accountant-General sentenced to 72 Years for N868 Million fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday announced that Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku has been convicted and sentenced to 72 years in prison for fraud involving N868.46 million.

The EFCC revealed in a post on its X handle that Nwabuoku was prosecuted before the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges relating to money laundering.

Nwabuoku was appointed acting Accountant-General of the Federation in May 2022 following the suspension of Ahmed Idris over an alleged N800 million fraud but was removed from office a few weeks later.

He was arraigned on January 15, 2025, on nine amended counts of money laundering. The court granted him bail in the sum of N500 million with two sureties of like sum.

The EFCC said that in the first count, Nwabuoku, alongside companies such as Temero Synergy Concept Limited, Turge Global Investment Limited, Laptev Bridge Limited, and Arafura Transnational Afro Limited, conspired to convert funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities. The alleged offences contravened Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and are punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.

The offences reportedly involved laundering about N86 million while Nwabuoku served as Director of Finance and Accounts at the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.

During the trial, the prosecution called nine witnesses, including Zenith Bank staff member Eucharia Ezeodi and federal civil service director Felix Nweke, to testify against Nwabuoku.