The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has sentenced Robert Orya, a former managing director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), to a cumulative 490 years’ imprisonment over a N2.4 billion fraud case.
On Thursday, the presiding judge, F.E. Messiri, convicted Orya on all 49 counts filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), sentencing him to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count. The sentences are to run concurrently.
Orya served as managing director of NEXIM between 2009 and 2016.
He was arraigned by the EFCC in November 2021 on a 49-count charge bordering on fraud and abuse of office.
According to the anti-graft agency, Orya abused his position as managing director to fraudulently obtain over N1.4 billion from the bank.
The EFCC alleged that during his tenure, Orya incorporated a company using the names of non-existent persons and others without their consent, which was then used to secure loans from the bank. The loans, the commission said, remained unpaid for several years.
Orya had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.