The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of Philemon Ibrahim Gora in a Ponzi scheme case involving N14 billion fraud.
The outcome of the appeal was disclosed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Gora was prosecuted by the EFCC on an 11-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and conducting banking business without a licence issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to the EFCC, Gora was prosecuted by EFCC counsel, Samuel Ugwuebulam, for allegedly defrauding “over 60,000 Nigerians to the tune of over N14 billion as a Ponzi scheme operator.”
He was convicted alongside his company, Cashflow Abi Network Limited, by the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on December 10, 2024.
Following the conviction, the parties approached the Court of Appeal for redress.
As disclosed by the EFCC on Wednesday, the appellate court upheld Gora’s conviction by the trial court.
In a statement in 2021, the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Office announced the arrest of Philemon Ibrahim Gora for offences bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, stealing, issuance of dud cheques, and money laundering.
The suspect, through one of his front companies, Gracious Environ Workers and Planners Nigeria Limited, allegedly obtained money from a traditional ruler, Kabiyesi Jacob Esan of Ijesa, Osun State, and owner of Liberitas Plc, with the assurance of converting it to United Arab Emirates (UAE) dirhams.
He was accused of reneging on the agreement after receiving the funds.
It was also revealed that the suspect, through another front company, N-PAS Nigeria Limited, deposited 41 commercial bank cheques of N10 million each, totalling N410 million, in favour of one of the complainant’s companies, Liberitas Plc.
However, the cheques were returned unpaid due to insufficient funds, prompting his prosecution.
In 2017, Nairametrics reported that the House of Representatives, through its Committee on Public Petitions, waded into a N12 billion dispute involving Gora.