GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL RECEIVES 72 YEAR SENTENCE FOR MONEY LAUNDERING; WILL IT DETER OTHERS WHO ARE TEMPTED IN NIGERIA?

Chukwunyere Anamekwe Nwabuoku, formerly acting Accountant-General in the Federal Government of Nigeria, was sentenced to a jaw-dropping seventy two years in prison, on multiple money laundering charges, an extraordinary sentence in a country known for massive official corruption raging out of control, which may explain the sentence. Nwabuoku diverted N868,465,000, the equivalent of USD$630,000, by transferring the funds to shell companies that he controlled.

In the United States, the maximum sentence for violations of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 is twenty years in Federal Prison, but that sentence is rarely, if ever, imposed by District Judges. Perhaps they might want to take judicial notice of this case, for short sentences for money laundering do not appear to have served as adequate deterrence, given that the United States Sentencing Commission lists over 25,500 Federal convictions since 2001.