In a major victory for anti-graft efforts, Justice Raliat Adebiyi of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has sentenced Alhaji Mohammed Gobir, a former Director of Afromedia Plc, to seven years in prison for orchestrating a multi-million-naira and foreign-currency fraud scheme.
Gobir who is an associate of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and also once a top figure on the board of one of Nigeria’s leading outdoor advertising companies, was convicted on all 17-count charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), including stealing, obtaining by false pretence, forgery, and possession of fraudulent documents.
The EFCC had arraigned him in 2016 after a detailed petition from Afromedia Plc revealed shocking details of deception and financial manipulation that cost the company hundreds of millions of naira and foreign currency.
According to the prosecution, Gobir gained a seat on Afromedia’s board by falsely claiming he would invest ₦1 billion. With that trust secured, he went on to defraud the company of $3.5 million, ₦514.4 million, $2.1 million, £51,000.
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He allegedly claimed the funds were for securing deals with international investors and for retrieving $250 million he claimed was “stashed” in a UK bank and temporarily held by British anti-money laundering authorities.
He demanded $250,000 from Afromedia to obtain a supposed “waiver certificate” for its release, a ruse Justice Adeniyi later declared as entirely false.
One of the charges revealed Gobir had deceived Afromedia into believing he needed over ₦514 million to facilitate the transfer of $70 million from his London bank account into the company, a transaction that never existed.
Gobir was first arrested at his luxury residence in Ikoyi on September 12, 2015, following investigations into the elaborate fraud.
Justice Adebiyi, in delivering the sentence, condemned Gobir’s breach of trust and manipulation of corporate structures for personal gain. He will serve seven years behind bars.
The EFCC hailed the judgment as a significant step in holding high-profile fraudsters accountable, regardless of their status or influence.
