A Federal High Court, Abuja, has found Retired Air Vice Marshall Tony Omenyi guilty of the amended three-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and sentenced him to an accumulated 21 jail term – seven years on each of the three counts, to run concurrently.
Omenyi, who was arraigned by the EFCC on November 11, 2016 along with his company, Huzee Nigeria Limited, for abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of N136,323,000 (One Hundred and Thirty Six Million Three Hundred and Twenty Three Thousand Naira) only was convicted on February 28, 2019.
He had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, thereby setting the stage for his trial.
After calling five prosecution witnesses and tendering over 20 documents, which were admitted in evidence, the EFCC closed its case on April 17, 2018.
Delivering judgement, the trial judge noted that the explanations given by the defence in the course of the trial were not credible enough, and that the court was satisfied that the prosecution proved its case beyond every reasonable doubt.
The court further held that, in the final analysis the funds received by the defendants as contained in counts one to three are kickbacks in the contracts awarded by the Nigerian Airforce.
The trial judge, thus found him “guilty” on the three counts, and sentenced him to seven years in prison, to run concurrently.
Justice Dimgba, also ordered Huzee Nigeria Limited, “being a corporate entity” to forfeit the sum of N60 million in the custody of the EFCC to the Federal Government.