Justice Rosemary Dugbo Oghoghorie of the Federal High Court sitting in Calabar has convicted and sentenced the Chief Executive Officer of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, Uno Michael Eke, to one-year imprisonment for conspiracy, obtaining property by false pretence, and money laundering to the tune of N2 billion.
He was jailed after pleading guilty to four amended charges preferred against him by the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Count One read: “That you, Uno Michael Eke (being the President/Chief Executive Officer of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society), Registered Trustees of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, MMCS, Aya Kanu Aya (alias Mbakara), being the Vice President of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (now at large), sometime between June and August 2018 in Calabar, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: obtaining property by false pretence, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Count Two read: “That you, Uno Michael Eke (being the President/Chief Executive Officer of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society), Registered Trustees of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, MMCS, Aya Kanu Aya (alias Mbakara), being the Vice President of Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (now at large), on or about the 12th day of July 2018 in Calabar, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of Two Million Naira (N2,000,000.00) from one Kubnse Ogar Ebute by inducing her to invest the money into your Swiss Golden packages through your Micheno Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Ltd under the false pretence of paying her 80% as a return on investment on her principal sum on the 40th day of her investment, which you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence 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.”
Eke pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to him.
In view of his guilty plea, prosecution counsel Joshua Abolarin prayed the court to convict the defendant based on the charges before the court. The defence counsel, Ime Umanah, informed the court of a plea bargain agreement before the court and prayed for a lighter jail term for his client.
The judge, after considering the plea of the convict and the evidence before the court, convicted and sentenced Eke to one year imprisonment or an option of a fine of N2 million.
Additionally, the convict was ordered to forfeit to the Federal Government 12 flats of two bedrooms each, located by Goodluck Jonathan Bypass, Calabar, Cross River State; two plots of land (4.162 hectares and 3.391 hectares) located at Adiabo Ikot Mboout Community Land, Odukpani Local Government Area, Cross River State; two plots of land located at Akai Effa, Calabar Municipality, Cross River State; 18 self-contained flats (storey building) located beside the University of Calabar, Ita-Agbor, Calabar, Cross River State; N10 million recovered during the investigation.
The judge ordered that all monies recovered from the convict should be restituted to the victims listed in the charges.
Eke’s road to the correctional centre began when he was arrested for collecting huge sums of money from unsuspecting victims with a promise of an 80% return on investment within 40 days. Investigations showed that he opened different bank accounts in his name and company’s name, where he raked in the sum of N2 billion from his victims. The funds were used to acquire landed properties and houses in Calabar, Cross River State.
