Ex-Bank MD Robert Orya Jailed 490 Years Over N2.4 billion Fraud

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a former managing director of the Nigerian Export-Import (NEXIM) Bank, Robert Orya, to 490 years in prison over N2.4 billion fraud.

Justice F. E. Messiri, who delivered the judgment on Thursday, sentenced Orya to 10 years’ imprisonment on each of the 49 counts filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with the sentences to run concurrently.

Orya served as the Managing Director of NEXIM between 2009 and 2016.

He was arraigned in November 2021 on a 49-count charge bordering on fraud and abuse of office.

The EFCC accused the former NEXIM boss of abusing his position to fraudulently obtain over N1.4 billion from the bank.

According to the anti-graft agency, Orya incorporated a company while in office, allegedly using the names of non-existent persons and others without their consent to secure loans from the bank, which remained unpaid for several years.