Court Sentences Olisa Metuh to 39 years in prison

Olisa Metuh, a former spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been sentenced to 39 years in prison for money laundering.

Justice Okon Abang handed down the sentence in his judgement on Tuesday on seven counts of money laundering and criminal diversion of funds to the tune of N400 million.

The charges were filed against Metuh and his company, Destra Investment, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The trial judge sentenced Metuh after convicting him and found him guilty of all the charges brought against him by the anti-graft agency.

This followed a protected trial of the former PDP spokesman which lasted about four years and witnessed a series of drama and adjournment over health-related matters.

Giving his judgement, Justice Abang sentenced Metuh to seven years imprisonment in respect to Counts One to Three.

On Count Four, the PDP spokesman was sentenced to five years while he got seven, three and seven years for Counts Five, Six, and Seven years respectively.

He, however, held that all the sentences should run concurrently, with effect from February 25, 2020, meaning Metuh would spend only seven years in prison.

The trial judge also sentenced Dextra Investment to pay a fine of N25 million with respect to Counts Five and Six, while Metuh was also ordered to pay a fine of N375 million.

Justice Abang further ordered that the account of Dextra Investment should be forfeited to the Federal Government and the company be dissolved.

More to follow…