Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has fixed February 13, 2026, for judgment in the trial of Emmanuel Nwude, a previously convicted fraudster, and two legal practitioners, Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Rowland Kalu, who are facing charges bordering on forgery and illegal dealings in forfeited property.
The judge announced the date after taking final oral arguments from both the prosecution and the defence counsel.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nwude and his co-defendants allegedly conspired to tamper with a property earlier forfeited by a valid court order.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants attempted to falsify documents, including a Power of Attorney, in connection with the said property previously forfeited to victims of Nwude’s past fraud case by order of Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole.
During final submissions, defence lawyers — Chuks Nwanchukwu, F.R.A. Williams (Mrs.), and E. Nwokolo urged the court to discharge and acquit their clients of all 15 counts, arguing that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt.
However, EFCC counsel Nnaemeka Omewa called on the court to convict the defendants, insisting that the evidence before the court clearly showed their attempt to manipulate ownership records of a property that had already been forfeited to Nwude’s victims.
It will be recalled that Emmanuel Nwude was convicted by a Lagos High Court in 2005 for impersonating former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Paul Ogwuma in a massive fraud case that defrauded Brazil’s Banco Noroeste of about $242 million between 1995 and 1998.
The case, which led to the collapse of the Brazilian bank in 2001, was described as one of the largest banking frauds in global history at the time.
Nwude was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment by Justice Oyewole, marking one of the first major convictions secured by the newly established EFCC.
