Arms deal: Court jails AVM Omenyi 7 years

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced former Managing Director of Aeronautical and Engineering and Technical Services (AETS), Air Vice Marshal Tony Omenyi to seven years imprisonment over alleged N136 million fraud.

Justice Nnamdi Dimgba on Thursday sentenced him to seven years imprisonment for each of the three count charges, making it 21 years. The jail terms are however to run concurrently.

The judge ordered him to refund the balance of N62m out of N74.3m, after he already paid into the coffers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He also directed the Federal Government to wind up the company used for receiving the money.

The judge ruled that, “The first defendant is hereby sentenced to seven years imprisonment being the minimum sentence prescribed by the offences he is charged.”

The EFCC in 2016 accused Omenyi of receiving the sum of N24.8m, N61.5m and N50m between August 16 and 23, 2014, through the FCMB Bank account of Huzee Nigeria Ltd, Sky Experts Nigeria Ltd, which are contractors to AETS.

The three-count charges are brought under Section 15 (2) of the Money Laundering Act, which attracts a minimum of seven years imprisonment.

The offence attracts a maximum of 14-year sentence, and seven years minimum sentence.