Businessman Bags One-Year Jail Term for Forging Bank Drafts

A Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, on Tuesday sentenced a businessman, Ernest Uduebor, who is into oil and gas, to one-year imprisonment for being in possession of a forged Fidelity Bank draft to the tune of N100m.

Justice Ramon Oshodi convicted and sentenced him after he pleaded guilty to one count of being in possession of a forged document.

Uduebor was first arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on January 27, 2023, alongside Oladepo Babatunde, Funmilayo Oladimeji and Maclean Surulere.

They were arraigned on a seven-count bordering on conspiracy, forgery and possession of fraudulent documents.

EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Mr Samuel Daji, told the court that Uduebor committed the offence on January 28, 2022.

The commission said they conspired to forge several Fidelity Bank managers’ cheques purporting the same to be issued by the bank in favour of So Deep Energy and Logistics Limited.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against them.

In view of their plea, the prosecution counsel, Daji, asked the court for a trial date.

“We also urge the court to remand the defendants at the correctional facility,” he said.