Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi,
\nLagos, on Monday, June 3, 2019, sentenced\u00a0 Calistus Obi, a\u00a0 former
\nacting\u00a0 Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety
\nAgency, NIMASA to 42 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Also sentenced to 42 years imprisonment is Alu Dismas, an aide to
\nPatrick Akpobolokemi, a former Director-General, NIMASA.<\/p>\n
Justice Olatoregun found the defendants guilty on counts two, three,
\nfour, six, seven and eight and sentenced them to seven years
\nimprisonment each on each count.<\/p>\n
The Judge, however, gave the convicts an “option of fine” of N42 million
\non each of the count. Justice Olatoregun also imposed a N10 million fine
\non the third and fourth convicts: Global Sea Investment and Grand Pact
\nLimited.<\/p>\n
The convicts were arraigned on April 12, 2016 on an eight-count charge
\nbordering on conspiracy, conversion, and money laundering to the tune of
\nN136m.<\/p>\n
One of the counts reads: “That you, Callistus Nwabueze Obi and Dismas
\nAlu Adoon, on or about the 5th day of August 2014, in Lagos, within the
\njurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did conspire amongst yourselves
\nto commit an offence to wit: Conversion of the sums of N111, 000, 000.00
\n(One Hundred and Eleven Million naira) property of NIMASA, knowing that
\nthe said sums were proceeds of stealing, and thereby committed an
\noffence.”<\/p>\n
They both pleaded not guilty to the charges, thereby setting the stage
\nfor their trial.<\/p>\n
During course of the trial, the prosecution called eight witnesses and
\ntendered several documents, which were admitted in evidence by the
\ncourt.<\/p>\n
When the sentencing hearing began, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo
\nurged the court to pronounce sentence prohibiting the crime and impose
\nmaximum sentence on the convicts, having allowed the court to go through
\nthe rigor of full scale trial without taking advantage of Section 270
\nwhich would have saved the time of the court with accelerating the
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
He also told the court that Section 15(3) of the Money Laundering
\nProhibition Act has limited the discretion of the court in sentencing
\nthe convicts.<\/p>\n
He explained regarding the crime committed by the convicts, that the
\nSection specifies that the “court shall sentence not more fourteen years
\nand not less than seven years imprisonment”.<\/p>\n
He urged the court to order the convicts to make restitution or make
\ncompensation to the victim of the crime, which is NIMASA and order the
\nreturn of the embezzled funds and a company, LA Diva Hotels and Events
\nLimited situated at Plot 12, Phase 4, Cora Area, Asaba, Delta State,
\nbelonging to the first defendant, which forms part of the proceeds of
\ncrime as stated by the first defendant in the cause trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, June 3, 2019, sentenced\u00a0 Calistus Obi, a\u00a0 former acting\u00a0 Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n