The Culprits Apprehended
Although the scam took place between 1995 and 1998, Emmanuel and his accomplices were only brought to court in 2004. The complexity of the case meant that specialist investigations had to be carried out. As a result of this, the criminal investigations only began to take shape in 2002. This is when the then Nigerian president, Olesegun Obasanjo established an anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
When the scammers were brought before the Abuja High Court they faced over 100 counts of fraud and bribery related charges. They originally pleaded not guilty. However, their defense began to crumble when one of the fraudsters confessed. Despite a confession from one of his accomplices, Emmanuel still tried to evade justice by attempting to bribe the chairman of the EFCC with $75 000. This did not end well for him as the chairman refused the bribe resulting in additional bribery charges being added to Emmanuel’s docket.
The prosecutors in the matter managed to secure as a witness, Nelson Sekaguchi, the man who had been conned into making payments for the non-existent airport. Following his testimony Emmanuel and the rest of his remaining crew plead guilty. Emmanuel was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $10 million as a fine to the federal government. This seems like a very small amount for someone who had defrauded a bank of over $200 million dollars. The fine was probably a mere drop in the ocean for him.
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