Court Sentences Man for Hawking Cash in Enugu

Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Enugu State has sentenced Nwachukwu Ifeanyi to six months in prison for currency racketeering.

According to Dele Oyewale, Head of Media & Publicity for the EFCC, Nwachukwu was arrested on February 9, 2024, by the commission’s Special Task Force after credible intelligence linked him to the crime.

The EFCC stated that investigations revealed Nwachukwu used his shop at 98 Douglas Road, Owerri, Imo State, to trade in new naira notes.

He was later prosecuted on an amended one-count charge related to currency racketeering, involving the sum of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira).

The charge reads: “That you, Nwachukwu Ifeanyi, sometime in February 2024, at Douglas Road, Owerri, Imo State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, hawked the total sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000. 00) mints in Five Hundred Naira (N500) denominations, issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21 (4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and punishable under Section 21 (1) of the same Act.”

After the charge was read, Nwachukwu pleaded “guilty,” prompting prosecution counsel Blessing Obasi to call EFCC operative Isaac Adole Enemona to present the case details.

Enemona testified that the convict was apprehended at 98 Douglas Road, Owerri, Imo State, on February 9, 2024, while selling N500 denominations, totaling N500,000. He identified key evidence, including the exhibit money, exhibit registration form, phone records, a certification of identification, and voluntary statements given by the convict on February 9, 10, 14, and 15, 2024—all of which were admitted as evidence.

Following this, the prosecution urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly, while defense counsel Alex Williams pleaded for leniency, emphasizing that Nwachukwu was a first-time offender who did not waste the court’s time.

Justice Umar, satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, convicted and sentenced Nwachukwu to six months in prison or an alternative fine of N1 million. Additionally, the N500,000 recovered from him was forfeited to the federal government.