After serving out a 2-year jail term, the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction of a businesswoman, Oluremi Ebun Phillips, holding that the allegations against her arose from a purely civil transaction and did not disclose any criminal offence.

In a lead judgement delivered virtually via zoom by Justice Yargata Nimpar, the appellate court allowed Phillips’ appeal and set aside the judgement of Justice Ismail Ijelu of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja which had earlier convicted her on several counts of stealing and issuance of dud cheques.

In the judgement delivered after Phillips had already served the jail term imposed on her by the lower court, Justice Nimpar held that after reviewing the submissions of counsels and the issues formulated for determination, the court found that the dispute between the parties stemmed from a commercial transaction that lacked any criminal element.

“This was essentially a civil transaction without any criminal element whatsoever,” the court held, adding that the respondent wrongly transformed the matter into a criminal prosecution.

On the allegation relating to the issuance of a dud cheque, the court held that the prosecution failed to establish the essential ingredients required by law. Justice Nimpar held that there was no evidence before the court showing that Phillips was notified of the dishonour of the cheque allegedly issued to the complainant, as required under the law governing dud cheque offences.

“The law is clear that the issuer must be informed or notified of the dishonour, and no such notification was placed before the court,” the appellate court held. Consequently, the court allowed the appeal and quashed the conviction entered against Phillips. The judgement was unanimously supported by Justice Senta and Justice Kwaha, who both concurred with the lead judgement.

Phillips was convicted by Justice Ijelu over allegations that she and her company, Omritas Energy Limited, fraudulently converted N57,690,000 belonging to AYM Shafa Limited in a transaction involving the supply of Automotive Gas Oil. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had alleged that the money was paid for diesel supply which was never delivered.

The anti-graft agency also accused Omritas Energy Limited of issuing a Diamond Bank cheque valued at N14,298,075 to AYM Shafa Limited in April 2017, which was allegedly dishonoured due to insufficient funds. Phillips was initially arraigned before Justice Sherifat Solebo on January 27, 2022.

However, following Justice Solebo’s retirement in November 2022, the case was reassigned to Justice Ijelu. She was subsequently re-arraigned alongside her company on May 22, 2023, on five counts bordering on stealing and issuance of dud cheque involving the sum of N57.6 million.

Phillips pleaded not guilty to the charge, while the prosecution and defence each called three witnesses during the trial. In his judgement, Justice Ijelu sentenced Phillips to nine years imprisonment or an option of N2 million fine on count one, while imposing two years imprisonment each on counts two to five, to run concurrently.

The court also fined Omritas Energy Limited N250,000 on count one and N100,000 on each of the remaining counts. In addition, the trial court ordered restitution of N57,690,000 to AYM Shafa Limited within 90 days and directed that the company be wound up if the restitution was not made within the stipulated period.