A United States-based Professor of Nigeria origin, Gordian Ndubizu, has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Trenton federal court for tax evasion.

TheNigerian Metro gathered in a statement by the US Department of Justice on Tuesday that Ndubizu, aside from being a Professor of Accounting, also co-owned a pharmacy company whose earning was not declared.

The statement noted that Ndubizu alongside his wife, ran the pharmacy which earned about $3.28m in income, resulting in the evasion of approximately $1.25m in tax due and owing between 2014 and 2017.

It read, “A Mercer County, New Jersey man was sentenced today to 24 months in prison for evading federal income taxes and filing false tax returns, acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced.

“During tax years 2014 through 2017, Ndubizu was a professor of accounting at a university in Pennsylvania as well as the co-owner of Healthcare Pharmacy in Trenton, New Jersey. Healthcare Pharmacy was organised as an S corporation, the income of which flowed through to Ndubizu and his wife and was to be reported on their personal income tax returns.

“Ndubizu failed to report approximately $3.28 million in income from the pharmacy, resulting in the evasion of approximately $1.25 million in tax due and owing.”

The statement added that the couple prepared fraudulent tax documents and transferred the earnings from the pharmacy to an automobile company’s account in Nigeria which was controlled by the convict.

“Ndubizu prepared fraudulent books and records for Healthcare Pharmacy inflating the pharmacy’s costs of goods sold to reduce and underreport the pharmacy’s actual profits flowing through to Ndubizu and his wife.

“In the fraudulent books and records, among other things, Ndubizu identified certain wire transfers as payments to purchase goods sold by the pharmacy when those wire transfers were made to personal bank accounts under Ndubizu’s control and to bank accounts in Nigeria associated with an automotive company under Ndubizu’s control.

“Each of Ndubizu’s tax returns for tax years 2014 through 2017 falsely underreported his income and falsely reported that he had no financial interest in or signature authority over any foreign bank accounts.”

It stated that the convict was charged with eight counts but was convicted on four counts bordering on false tax returns.

“Gordian A. Ndubizu, of Princeton Junction, New Jersey, was convicted on August 15, 2024, of all eight counts of an indictment charging him with four counts of tax evasion and four counts of filing false tax returns in tax years 2014 through 2017, following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, who imposed the sentence today (March 3) in Trenton federal court,” the statement concluded.

Ndubizu’s conviction joined the list of Nigerians who have been convicted in the US for various offences bordering on fraud, and romance scams among others.

TheNigerian Metro reported on December 6 that two Nigerians, Okechuckwu Osuji and Tolulope Bodunde, who were co-conspirators in a business email compromise scheme, were sentenced to a combined jail term of 10 years by a United States federal jury.

Osuji and Bodunde were jailed following their conviction in a fraudulent scheme that targeted US companies and elderly citizens, leading to a loss of about $6m to their victims.

Similarly, on December 20, our correspondent reported that a US-based Nigerian, Oluwole Adegboruwa, and his accomplice, Enrique Isong, were sentenced to 40 years combined jail term for coordinating the sales and distribution of a banned drug through the dark web across several states in the US.

Adegboruwa led a syndicate of drug peddlers whom he instructed on how drugs obtained by customers through a dark web marketplace were packaged and distributed.

An Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a University of Uyo (UNIUYO) professor of Human Kinetics, Ignatius Uduk, to three years imprisonment for electoral fraud during the 2019 general elections.

The court found Prof Uduk guilty of two of the three-count charge preferred against him by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Bassey Nkanang of Uyo High Court 5, in the judgement delivered on Wednesday, acquitted Uduk in Count 1, while he was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment, each on Count 2 and 3 which are to be served concurrently.

 

Another professor from the institution, Peter Ogban who was also arraigned by the electoral body under similar circumstances, had earlier been convicted and sentenced to three years jail term in the trial that commenced in 2019 over that year’s general elections.

Gunmen have reportedly killed Prof. Emeka Chukwuma, a lecturer at the Delta State University, Abraka.

TheNigerian Online gathered that Chukwuma returned to his home town, Umueji in Asaba, the Delta State capital on Friday for his usual weekend when the assassins killed him in his house.

Sources told our correspondent that the 56-year-old professor usually comes home every weekend in Asaba.

“Prof. Emeka Chukwuma was assassinated in Asaba on Friday night. He is a lecturer at the Delta State University, Abraka, Anwai campus but later went back to the Abraka campus after the conversion of Anwai campus to Dennis Osadebey University.

“Prof Chukwuma usually comes home every weekend, it is unfortunate that he came back yesterday for his usual weekend and was assassinated in his place at St. Bridges area of Umueji quarter, in Asaba.

“As I speak to you now, Asaba is no longer safe, we are confused over the situation”, the source lamented.

Meanwhile, there have been a lot of reported killings and kidnappings in Asaba in recent times as residents have urged the security agencies to stand up for their responsibility of the protection of life and property.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Bright Edafe who confirmed the killing, said the police are looking into the killing with a view to arresting the perpetrators.

He said, “Yes, it is confirmed, they have reported the matter to the police, and we are looking into the incident.”

Suspended Dean of the Facility of Law, University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, on Tuesday told Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that he did not send or request for explicit photographs from anyone in the sexual harassment case brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Ndifon, alongside his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, is standing trial on four counts of alleged sexual harassment, Cybercrime and attempt to perverse the cause of justice.

The commission had alleged that Prof Ndifon, while being the Dean of the Faculty of Law, UNICAL, requested a female diploma student to send him her “pornographic, indecent and obscene photographs of herself” through WhatsApp chats.

Anyanwu, one of the defence lawyers, was joined in the amended charge filed on January 22, 2024, by the ICPC on the allegation that he threatened one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile telephone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon.

They pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

Led in evidence by his counsel, Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ndifon said he was asked about the old rape case by the officers of the ICPC. Still, they did not mention the star witness, TKJ, saying he had to know about the case when charged in court.

Ndifon accepted TKJ through her uncle in the UK, who informed him that she had paid someone in the Vice Chancellor‘s office the sum of N100,000 to help her secure admission into the faculty of law at the University, but the person failed.

According to him, her uncle then asked him to help recover the money since admission had closed, but he felt insulted and refused to respond, revealing that she scored 102 in Jamb.

The Professor told the court that TKJ contacted him later and told him she had enrolled for the diploma program. He advised her to study hard to gain admission through direct entry into the law faculty.

Ndifon said he has three phones, and his iPhone is his main line, not the Oppo phone where the photographs and images were found. He added that he used his main line to chat with the star witness.

He said the pictures allegedly extracted from his phone by the ICPC were edited, adding that he did not see his face or the witness in any of the images.

„I did not send any nude photographs, nor did I solicit for any. This (Oppo phone) is not the phone I used to chat with her. She has another number she used to chat with me,“ he said.

„ICPC did not ask for her phone to check; they said it themselves,“ he added.

When asked about Exhibit H, which contains pictures and chats allegedly exchanged between himself and TKJ, he said, „All these pictures are not from my phone. Slide 661 shows that this document has been edited. I haven‘t reviewed the whole document, so I don‘t know which other part was edited.“

„I watched the video slide but didn‘t see my face or TKJ‘s. The ICPC didn‘t invite me to where they were doing the extraction, and he stated that I haven‘t been told who told the ICPC about the complaint,“ he stated.

The professor told the court that TKJ, who is now a student of the faculty of law at UNICAL, made her statement to ICPC on November 9 and 10, 2023, after he was charged to court on October 30, 2023.

He alleged that she was admitted as a student after testifying against him despite not being qualified. He added that she was listed as number one on a notice for those who write supplementary exams on law.

Ndifon expressed shock that the witness came to testify, as he could not even assist her because he was no longer in the faculty of law at the time of the allegation.

He said, „The allegation against me occurred when I was no longer in the faculty of law, so she cannot say I had asked for oral sex or any other advances.

„I‘m shocked she came to testify because nothing like that happened,“ he added.

During cross-examination by ICPC‘s counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha admitted that lecturers at the Faculty of Law at the University also teach at the diploma institute.

He agreed to meet Dr Owoche, a lecturer at the Law faculty, but said he was not aware that he also teaches at the institute.

He was reminded of a case in 2015 with a 20-year-old 400-level student of the faculty who accused him of rape and admitted she was caught in exam malpractice at her 100 level but denied being the one who caught her cheating during the exam.

Ndifon admitted that the matter escalated after the school wrote to the Nigerian Law School Bwari, mentioning the said malpractice.

The suspended Dean of the Facility of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Prof. Cyril Ndifon, on Tuesday, told Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja that he did not send or request for explicit photographs from anyone in the sexual harassment case brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Ndifon, alongside his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, is standing trial on four counts of alleged sexual harassment, cybercrime and attempt to perverse the course of justice.

The anti-graft commission alleged that Prof. Ndifon, while being the Dean of the Faculty of Law at UNICAL, requested a female diploma student to send him her “pornographic, indecent and obscene photographs of herself” through WhatsApp chats.

Anyanwu, who is one of the lawyers in the defence, was joined in the amended charge filed on January 22, 2024, by the ICPC on the allegation that he called one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile telephone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her.

Both pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

Led in evidence by his counsel, Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ndifon said he was asked about the old rape case by the officers of the ICPC, but they did not make mention of the star witness, identified as TKJ, saying he got to know about the case when he was charged to court.

Ndifon accepted knowing TKJ through her uncle in the UK, who informed him that she had paid someone in the Vice Chancellor’s office the sun of N100,000 to help her secure admission into the faculty of law in the University, but the person failed.

According to him, her uncle then asked him to help recover the money since admission had closed but he felt insulted and refused to respond, revealing that she scored 102 in Jamb.

The Professor told the court that TKJ reached out to him later and told him she has enrolled for the diploma program and he advised her to study hard in order to gain admission through direct entry into the faculty of law.

Ndifon said he has three phones and the iPhone he uses is his main line, not the Oppo phone where the photographs and images were found, adding what he used to chat with the star witness, using his main line.

He said that the pictures alleged to have been extracted from his phone by the ICPC were edited adding that he did not see his face nor that of the witness in any of the pictures.

“I did not send any nude photographs neither did I solicit for any. This (Oppo phone) is not the phone I used to chat with her. She has another number which she used to chat with me,” he said.

“ICPC did not ask for her phone to check, they said it themselves,” he added.

When asked about Exhibit H which contains pictures and chats allegedly exchanged between himself and TKJ, he said, “all these pictures are not from my phone, looking at it, slide 661 shows that this document has been edited, I haven’t gone through the whole document so I don’t know which other part was edited.”

“I watched the video slide, but I didn’t see my face or TKJ’s. The ICPC didn’t invite me to where they were doing the extraction and I haven’t been told about who told ICPC about the complain,” he stated.

The professor told he court that TKJ who is now a student of the faculty of law, UNICAL, made her statement to ICPC on November 9 and 10, 2023 after he was charged to court on October 30, 2023.

He alleged that she was admitted as a student after testifying against him, despite not being qualified, adding that she was listed as number one, on a notice for those who write supplementary exams on law.

Ndifon expressed shock that the witness came to testify as he was not even in the position to assist her being that he was no longer in the faculty of law at the time of the allegation.

He said, “The allegation against me occurred when I was no longer in the faculty of law, so she cannot say I had asked for oral sex or any other advances.

“I’m totally shocked she came to testify, because nothing like that happened,” he added.

During cross-examination by ICPC’s counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, admitted that lecturers at the Faculty of Law, in the University, also teach at the diploma institute.

He agreed to knowing one Dr. Owoche who is also a lecturer at the Law faculty, but said he is not aware if he also teaches at the institute.

He was reminded of a case in 2015 with a 20-year-old 400 level student of the faculty who accused him of rape and admitted she was caught in exam malpractice in her 100 level, but denied being the one who caught her cheating during the exam.

Ndifon admitted that the matter escalated after the school wrote to the Nigerian Law School Bwari, mentioning the said malpractice.