Nigeria Brewery Distributor, Nwodo Martha, has been arraigned on charges of N39.8 million fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed nine-count charges against Martha for stealing by fraudulent conversion.
The charges allege that she unlawfully converted funds amounting to N39, 847,800.00 for her personal use.
The specific counts include allegations of stealing by fraudulently converting N5,840,000.00 and N19,520,500.00, which were payments meant for the purchase of Brewery products, for her personal use.
These actions are in violation of Section 342 of the Criminal Code Law, Revised Edition, Cap 30, Laws of Enugu State of Nigeria, 2004 and are punishable under Section 353 (1) of the same Law.
Martha pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The EFCC requested a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded at Enugu State Correctional Facility.
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The defence counsel requested bail for Martha, which was granted by the court at a sum of Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000.00) with a surety in like sum who must be a level 13 civil servant.
The court registrar will verify the address of the surety.
The trial is scheduled for July 24, 2024.
Martha’s arrest was based on a petition from Fidelity Structures, a major distributor of Nigerian Breweries.
The petition alleges that as a Principal Manager, Martha acted as a Sole Administrator, preventing the company’s Directors from accessing information about the company’s operations.
It is alleged that she released products to faceless sub-distributors and fraudulently collected payments for the products. Additionally, it is claimed that Martha approved salary advances for herself and sold two of the company’s delivery vans, a Ford and a Mercedes 813 truck.
