A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has sentenced a former Managing Director (MD) of the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank, Robert Orya, to 490 years imprisonment over alleged N2.4 billion fraud.
The presiding judge, Justice F. E. Messiri, sentenced the former MD to 10 years in prison on each of the 49 counts filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with the sentences to run concurrently.
The court stated that the offenses against him were a serious breach of trust, especially because of the vital role of NEXIM Bank in Nigeria’s economic development.
Orya served as the MD of the bank from 2009 to 2016.
He was arraigned in 2021 by the EFCC on charges bordering on obtaining money by false pretenses, forgery, and advance fee fraud, but he pleaded not guilty.
According to the EFCC, Orya registered a company while in his position and allegedly used the names of non-existent individuals and others without their consent to collect loans from the bank, which were unpaid.