Cecilia Ibru Gets Six Months Jail Term

A former Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank International Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, has been sentenced to six months in prison for fraud and ordered to hand over $1.2bn (N180bn) in cash and assets.

Ibru pleaded guilty to three of 25 counts bordering on fraud and mismanagement.

She is one of a large number of executives held in connection with the near-collapse of nine banks in 2009.

The verdict is sending shockwaves through Nigeria’s financial world, says our source in Abuja.

Mrs Ibru’s sentence was the result of a plea bargain, Judge Dan Abutu told the court in Lagos on Friday.

Her three sentences are for six months each, but will run concurrently. This means she will spend only six months in jail, our source says.

“This is an indication that we are making progress in the war against graft in the country,” said Mrs. Farida Waziri, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The government removed Mrs Ibru along with other executives from a number of financial institutions in 2009.

The central bank then had to step in and bail out nine banks which were on the brink of collapse because of reckless lending and fraud.

Mrs Ibru belongs to an elite family, which controls massive business interests across the country. She was famous on Nigeria’s party circuit for her jewellery and her taste for corporate jets, our source says.

Until her arrest, the former banker had been considered beyond the reach of the anti-corruption agencies.

However, critics say too few cases are still being prosecuted.