Court jails Ex-Imo Commissioner, Laz Okoroafor Anyanwu for three years
Former Imo transport commissioner Laz Okoroafor Anyanwu was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday.
Anyanwu, who served during the administration of former Governor Rochas Okorocha, was found guilty of the charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and sentenced accordingly.
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While sentencing the former commissioner, Judge K. A. Lewanya stated that the prison term would be served concurrently.
The judge stated that the convict was found guilty of fraud, embezzlement, and theft.
According to him, the former commissioner was found guilty of diverting N180 million in State funds into a private company account where he was a major shareholder, sole signatory, and doubled as Commissioner for transport and Chairman Interim committee of the Imo State Transport Company (ITC), which he said is against sections 12 and 19 of the ICPC act of 2020.
The judge ruled that Anyanwu had violated the public procurement act, committed abuse of office, and used his position to gain an unfair advantage in his dealings during his time as transport commissioner and interim chairman of the Imo state transport company ITC.
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The judge stated that the EFCC attorney, Michael Ani, was able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that while Anyanwu was commissioner for transport from 2015 to 2019, he transferred N100 million from the ITC account to his private company, Oma oil industries Limited, in violation of sections 12 and 19 of the ICPC act of 2020 for public servants.
The judge also stated that the ex-commissioner transferred an additional N80 million from government coffers to his private company account with the intent of purchasing vehicles for ITC without adhering to due process and the public procurement act.
While sentencing him to prison, the judge ordered that the N180 million in stolen funds found in his account be forfeited to the state transport company.
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