2026-03-20
Nigerian 'Colonel and Major' get combined 16.5 years over 'worldwide, breathtaking' money laundering racket
Stage: Sentence
Outcome: Imposing sentence today, Judge Nolan noted that the scheme's ambition was to "get accounts to launder illicit monies" which were "undoubtedly the product of criminal behaviour" and that third parties unknown to the court suffered as a result. "Both men were reasonably experienced in how the banking system works" and aware of its weaknesses which they tested, sometimes successfully, the judge said. He handed Ogubefi a sentence of nine years and imposed a seven-and-half year sentence on Silvester, whom he considered to be at a lower level.