The Lagos State High Court has convicted Victor Ogiemwonyi and his firm, Partnership Securities Limited, for stealing N953.5 million and $80,000.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed the ruling in a statement on its official X account on Thursday.
The court found that the defendants diverted proceeds from a share sale entrusted to them by an investor for personal gain.
What they are saying
The EFCC stated that Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, convicted Ogiemwonyi and Partnership Securities Limited on two counts of stealing, contrary to the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
“Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, convicted one Victor Ogiemwonyi and his company, Partnership Securities Limited, for stealing the sum of N953,535,861.57 (Nine Hundred and Fifty-Three Million, Five Hundred and Thirty-Five Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-One Naira, Fifty-Seven Kobo) and $80,000.00 (Eighty Thousand United States Dollars),” the statement read in part.
The Commission stated that the case arose from a petition filed in October 2016 by the nominal complainant, Arnold Onyekwere Ekpe, who alleged that he instructed the defendants to sell his 96,077,872 units of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) shares.
The shares were sold for about N1.29 billion, but the defendants allegedly paid only N300 million to the complainant, while diverting the balance for personal use.
In a statement, the EFCC said Justice Nicole-Clay found that between June and September 2016, the defendants dishonestly converted N953,535,861.57 from the proceeds of the share sale, in addition to $80,000 in accrued dividends.
More insights
The EFCC explained that aside from withholding the unpaid balance from the share sale, the defendants also failed to remit $80,000 in dividends linked to the same ETI shares.
Following investigations, the Commission arraigned the defendants on two counts of stealing, covering both the naira proceeds from the sale and the dollar-denominated dividends.
At trial, the prosecution called five witnesses and tendered 67 exhibits, all of which were admitted by the court, while the defence called three witnesses, including Ogiemwonyi.
Delivering judgment, the court found Ogiemwonyi, who is the chairman of Partnership Securities Limited, and the company guilty on all counts.
The court sentenced Ogiemwonyi to a fine of N10 million and fined Partnership Securities Limited N20 million, while also ordering the convicts to refund the entire stolen sums in both naira and dollars to the complainant.
What you should know
According to the EFCC’s annual performance report in October 2025, the agency recovered N364.5 billion, $326.5 million, alongside other foreign currencies and assets, and secured 4,111 convictions across various courts in one year.
- One of the most recent recoveries involved N1.234 billion from Sujimoto Luxury Construction Limited, which was returned to the Enugu State Government.
- This followed a petition by the state government after the company failed to honor its contract to construct 22 smart schools, despite receiving over N2.28 billion in advance payments.
The cases show the EFCC’s ongoing activity in handling high-value financial crime matters across the country.
