Lagos court jails Indian man 10 years for fraud

Eric Patrick 

 

Justice I.O. Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court, sitting in Ikeja on Thursday, convicted and sentenced an Indian, Chandra Singh, to 10 years imprisonment for procurement fraud.

 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Lagos Zonal Directorate, had on Thursday, November 24, 2022, arraigned him before Justice Ijelu on a 19-count charge bordering on alleged retention of stolen property and bribery to the tune of N816,361,386.75.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and shared on its Facebook page on Thursday.

According to the statement, he was also alleged to have dishonestly retained the sum of $4,150 belonging to African Natural Resources and Mines Limited. 

One of the counts read, "That Chandra Prankash Singh, on or before 1st of January, 2021, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst in the employment of African Natural Resources and Mines Limited, solicited indirectly to confer undue advantage for your company, CVN Engineering Limited, so that you influence your employee to award the supply of items costing N365,757,457.00 to CVN Engineering Limited."

Another count read, "That Chandra Prankash Singh, on or before 1st of January, 2021, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst in the employment of African Natural Resources and Mines Limited, solicited indirectly to confer undue advantage for your company, Neo Paints Nigeria Limited, so that you influence your employee to award the supply of items costing N243,141,638.75 to Neo Paints Nigeria Limited."

He pleaded not guilty to all the counts, prompting the commencement of his trial.

 

In the course of the trial, prosecution counsel Bilikisu Buhari called nine witnesses and tendered several documentary evidence to prove the case against him.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, February 27, 2025, Justice Ijelu found him guilty as charged on counts 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 and sentenced him to 10 years without an option of fine. He was also ordered to make restitution of N345 million to his victim.