Abuja Court Sentences Company Director to Five Years for N128m Fraud

In a significant legal development, Justice O. J. Enobie of the FCT High Court in Jabi, Abuja, has sentenced Daniel Ungbo Silas, the director of Asher Trust Investment Limited and Fifteen Network Limited, to five years in prison for his involvement in a major fraud case.

Silas, along with his companies, faced prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on two counts of criminal breach of trust and fraudulent conversion of property, amounting to a staggering N128 million.

The first charge against Silas states: “That you, Daniel Ungbo Silas, as the Director of Fifteen Network Limited, on or about the 5th of October, 2016, within Abuja’s jurisdiction, were entrusted with property, specifically N88,000,000 (Eighty-Eight Million Naira), deposited into Fifteen Network Limited’s bank account by Mohammed Awwal Musa to purchase United States Dollars. You committed a criminal breach of trust by dishonestly converting this sum for your use, an offence contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 2024, and punishable under Section 312 of the same Act.”

In addition to the prison term, the court has ordered Silas to repay the full amount of N128 million, representing the proceeds of his crime, within 30 days. Alternatively, he has been given the option to pay a fine of N200,000 instead of serving the prison sentence.

Silas was convicted for misappropriating N128 million that was intended for the exchange into US Dollars, failing to return the money or provide the dollar equivalent to his victim.