Court jails ex-bank MD 10 years for N2.4bn fraud

The Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, has convicted and sentenced a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Roberts Orya, to 10 years’ imprisonment for bank fraud involving N2.4bn.

Justice F. E. Messiri delivered the judgment on Thursday, February 5, 2026, after finding Orya guilty of 49 counts of obtaining money by false pretences, forgery and advance fee fraud.

The former NEXIM boss was arraigned in 2021 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on charges bordering on fraudulent loan disbursements while he was in office.

In his judgment, Justice Messiri held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and found the defendant guilty on all counts.

The judge sentenced Orya to 10 years’ imprisonment on each of the 49 counts, bringing the total sentence to 490 years. The court, however, ordered that the sentences should run concurrently.

Orya had pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges, leading to a full trial in which the prosecution called seven witnesses.

The prosecution counsel, Samuel Ugwuebulam, told the court that the former bank chief abused his position to fraudulently induce NEXIM Bank to release huge sums of money to companies under false pretences.

Count one of the charge read, “That you Mr Roberts Orya while being the Managing Director of Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM BANK) on or about the 21st day of September 2011 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud induced Nigerian Export-Import Bank to pay to Treasuremix Construction Limited the sum of Four Hundred and Eighty-Eight Million Naira (N488,000,000) as loan under the pretence that the Directors of Luxurium Leisure Services Limited applied for and are the beneficiaries of the said loan which pretence you knew was false.”

The charge stated that the offence was contrary to Section 1(1)(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Count two alleged that Orya committed a similar offence in 2013.

It read, “That you Mr Roberts Orya while being the Managing Director of Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM BANK) on or about the 19th February 2013 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud induced Nigerian Export-Import Bank to pay to Treasuremix Construction Limited the sum of Six Hundred and Thirty Million Naira (N630,000,000) as loan under the pretence that the Directors of Luxurium Leisure Services Limited applied for and are the beneficiaries of the said loan, which pretence you knew was false.”

The prosecution maintained that the loan transactions were fraudulent and that the supposed beneficiary companies were used as fronts to siphon bank funds.

Justice Messiri agreed with the prosecution, holding that the evidence presented before the court clearly established the guilt of the defendant.

“The prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt,” the judge ruled before convicting Orya on all the 49 counts.

The court further noted that the offences were serious breaches of trust, particularly given the strategic role of NEXIM Bank in Nigeria’s economic development.

Orya served as the Managing Director of NEXIM Bank between 2009 and 2016.

He was first appointed to the position on August 14, 2009 by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and was later reappointed on August 18, 2014 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The conviction marks one of the most significant fraud cases involving a former chief executive of a federal financial institution in recent years.

The EFCC said the judgment reaffirmed its commitment to holding public officers accountable and ensuring that economic crimes are punished in accordance with the law.

Culled from punch