Court jails Bizman for 27 years on drug trafficking, money laundering charges

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced an Oman-based Nigerian businessman, Tochukwu Ugwunze, to a total of 27 years imprisonment for trafficking 7.50 kilograms of Indian hemp , money laundering and other drug-related crimes.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa jailed Ugwunze after he pleaded guilty to nine charges brought against him by the anti-narcotics agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The convict was first indicted on December 5, 2023 on five counts of conspiracy, illegal possession and illegal export of the banned “weed”.

At the time, he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The convict, however, changed his plea when he was re-arraigned on January 19, 2024, pleading guilty to all five counts.

The court then adjourned the matter for a review of the facts of the case.

During the hearing of the case on June 5, 2024, prosecutor Julian Iroabuchi informed the court of a new development. He said there was an amended charge against the convict and sought permission from the court to read the latest charge to the convict so that he could plead guilty.

Defense lawyer Dennis Warri vehemently objected to the request, but his objection was overruled by the judge, who ordered that the amended charge be read to the convict for his plea to be taken into account .

The new charge, consisting of nine counts, contained allegations of conspiracy, illegal export, illegal trafficking of the prohibited substance, non-disclosure of assets, failure to complete an assets form and money laundering.

The prosecutor claimed that the convict committed the offenses on September 12, 2023 with one Ifeanyi, who resides in Muscat, Oman, whose full name he refused to give.

He also allegedly withdrew money via POS from his accounts domiciled at Access Bank and GTB Plc while in the NDLEA detention center.

The criminal acts of the convict contravened sections 11(b), 11(c), 14(b), 35(3)(c) of the NDLEA Act Cap. N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and sections 18(3) and 18(2)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

Once again, the convict pleaded guilty to all nine counts. The matter was then adjourned until June 6, 2024 to consider the amended charge.

On June 6, the prosecutor, in his efforts to prove the case, particularly the money laundering charges, called a single witness, Mrs. Angela Mba, who narrated in court how the convict was arrested with substances prohibited.

Mba told the court that the convict concealed the drugs in a black nylon bag containing crayfish and bitter leaves at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

The witness also narrated in court how the convict withdrew about N2.5 million from his account via POS through one of his friends while he was in custody.

The witness told the court how the convict told him during interrogation that he had given his friend his credit card and authorized him to withdraw the money for him.

Mba also presented 18 pieces of evidence, most of which were his international passport, his plane ticket, his confessions and certified copies (CTC) of his account statements from Access and GTB banks, all admitted as exhibits. conviction by the court.