A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced Mohammed Gobir to seven years imprisonment over a N300 million fraud case involving outdoor advertising company, Afromedia Plc.
Justice R.I.B. Adebiyi delivered the judgment on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, bringing to a close a trial that began in 2016.
Gobir’s legal troubles began after operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested him at his Ikoyi residence on September 12, 2015, following a petition by Afromedia.
The petition alleged that Gobir was introduced to the company in 2008 by its private placement consultants, Synergy Capital Advisory Limited.
He had offered to invest N1 billion, which earned him a position on the Board of Directors as Chairman of the Business Development Committee.
Investigations, however, revealed that Gobir exploited the trust of the board to defraud the company of several millions of naira under the guise of securing a $70 million investment from an alleged $250 million account he claimed to hold with NATWEST Bank, London.
He was arraigned on March 17, 2016, on a 17-count charge bordering on obtaining under false pretence, stealing, possession of fraudulent documents, and forgery. He pleaded not guilty, prompting a full trial during which the EFCC, represented by counsel Nnaemeka Omewa, called four witnesses and tendered multiple documents.
In her judgment, Justice Adebiyi found Gobir guilty on seven counts: one count of obtaining under false pretence, two counts of stealing, and four counts of possession of fraudulent documents.
He was sentenced to seven years on the first count and six months each on the stealing charges, with all sentences to run concurrently.
The court also ordered Gobir to pay restitution of $1 million and ₦123 million to Afromedia.
However, he was acquitted on the charges of forgery and possession of forged documents.
