The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of Philemon Ibrahim Gora in a Ponzi scheme case involving N14 billion fraud.
The outcome of the appeal was disclosed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Gora was prosecuted by the EFCC on an 11-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and conducting banking business without a licence issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
What the Commission is saying
According to the EFCC, Gora was prosecuted by EFCC counsel, Samuel Ugwuebulam, for allegedly defrauding “over 60,000 Nigerians to the tune of over N14 billion as a Ponzi scheme operator.”
He was convicted alongside his company, Cashflow Abi Network Limited, by the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on December 10, 2024.
Following the conviction, the parties approached the Court of Appeal for redress.
As disclosed by the EFCC on Wednesday, the appellate court upheld Gora’s conviction by the trial court.
Backstory
In 2017, Nairametrics reported that the House of Representatives, through its Committee on Public Petitions, waded into a N12 billion dispute involving Gora.
- At the time, police authorities, the EFCC, and former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele were summoned to make submissions on the matter.
- The CBN had stated, “When a matter is in court, we do not interfere.”
- An employee of a commercial bank also denied Gora’s claim of closing his account, where over N12 billion in investor funds was domiciled.
What you should know
In a statement in 2021, the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Office announced the arrest of Philemon Ibrahim Gora for offences bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, stealing, issuance of dud cheques, and money laundering.
The suspect, through one of his front companies, Gracious Environ Workers and Planners Nigeria Limited, allegedly obtained money from a traditional ruler, Kabiyesi Jacob Esan of Ijesa, Osun State, and owner of Liberitas Plc, with the assurance of converting it to United Arab Emirates (UAE) dirhams.
He was accused of reneging on the agreement after receiving the funds.
- “Investigation revealed that the suspect allegedly transferred the money to his various accounts as well as to some Bureau de Change operators, who confirmed giving the suspect the dollar equivalent of the money in cash,” the statement read at the time.
It was also revealed that the suspect, through another front company, N-PAS Nigeria Limited, deposited 41 commercial bank cheques of N10 million each, totalling N410 million, in favour of one of the complainant’s companies, Liberitas Plc.
However, the cheques were returned unpaid due to insufficient funds, prompting his prosecution.
