A Federal High Court in Lagos has found former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, guilty of involvement in a fraud to the tune of N7.2 billion.
The verdict was read on Thursday by Justice Mohammed Idris.
The fraud was said to have been perpetrated when Kalu was the governor of Abia State.
Kalu is a serving senator in the National Assembly.
Tried along with Kalu were his company, Slok Nigeria Limited, and the Commissioner for Finance during his tenure as governor, Jones Udeogo.
In the charges against them, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alleged that Kalu and other defendants diverted the sum involved from the state account.
The money, EFCC said, was part of the “funds illegally derived from the treasury of the Abia State Government and which was converted into several bank drafts before they were paid into the said company’s account.”
