Former Anambra State Association, USA Officials Likely To Face Criminal Indictment For Embezzling $132,000

                                                                          

Former governor Peter Obi and former ASA-USA chair, Anadi Allison , a former president of Anambra State Association, USA Inc. (otherwise known as ASA-USA), and three fellow officials of his administration are likely to face criminal charges for embezzling at least $132,000 belonging to the association.

On March 26, 2015, Justice Rafael A. Ongkeko of the Superior Court in California had found Mr. Anadi and three other defendants guilty of pilfering thousands of dollars belonging to ASA-USA, which was founded in 2002 and incorporated as a nonprofit public benefit corporation in 2007.
Delivering judgment in a lawsuit filed by two members of the organization, Pius Okafor and Christopher Ikeanyi, Justice Ongkeko ordered Mr. Anadi to refund $81,502 to the organization. In addition, the judge ordered Olisa Oraelosi (former treasurer), Jonathan Okafor (former secretary), and Victor Nwanso (financial secretary), all cohorts of Mr. Anadi, to refund $47,494, $1,800, and $1,362 respectively.

In an extensive review of documents and arguments advanced by the plaintiffs, Justice Ongkeko found that Mr. Anadi and his co-defendants engaged in conversion of the association’s funds for their private benefit, failed to comply with financial regulations, and ignored the plaintiffs’ demands for records of their financial transactions.

In a glimpse of the defendants’ financial recklessness, the judge disclosed that the association had a net cash on-hand of $62,436.59 as of April 30, 2011, but had only $1,590 left by the end of 2011. Mr. Anadi and his fellow executives had spent “close to $242,000 in expenses,” the judge noted.
Justice Ongkeko bemoaned “the woeful state of documents produced by the defendants to the plaintiffs,” adding that his order on the amounts to be refunded by Mr. Anadi and his co-defendants was based on exhibits submitted by the plaintiffs and Mr. Pius Okafor’s testimony.

A source familiar with the case told SR that office of the attorney general in California was now reviewing the case and would most likely issue a criminal indictment of Mr. Anadi and the other defendants.

Speaking to SR earlier today, a longstanding member of ASA-USA praised the plaintiffs for filing the lawsuit and pursuing it to conclusion despite political pressures to abandon the case.

Two years ago, SR had exclusively disclosed that former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State had flown to the US on a mission to persuade the plaintiffs to withdraw their lawsuit. Mr. Obi raised eyebrows when he offered to use state funds to refund any monies embezzled by the defendants. However, the former governor’s meeting in New Jersey with various factions of the organization failed to resolve the lawsuit as the plaintiffs insisted that Mr. Anadi and his co-defendants should answer for any violations of trust and conversion of corporate funds.

Mr. Obi’s successor, Governor Willie Obiano, also made a bid to pressure the plaintiffs to stop their lawsuit. However, that effort collapsed after Mr. Anadi made indecent haste in filing with the court a memorandum of understanding that had not been ratified by all the parties. Justice Ongkeko subsequently dismissed the MOU as misconceived, ordering the continuation of the lawsuit.
A source close to the plaintiffs told SaharaReporters that the victorious group would write a letter to Governor Obiano to apprise him of the latest legal developments in the case.

“We understand that Dr. Anadi and his group have been making efforts to mislead the state government into dealing with a so-called interim management board that he, Anadi, cobbled together,” said the source. He added: “We are writing to alert the governor to the illegality of that so-called board. In their desperation, Anadi and his group are clutching at any straw, but they know better. They know that ASA-USA is a non-profit corporate entity registered under US law in the State of California. We owe it to Governor Obiano, who has shown signs of combating corruption, to lay bare the facts so that neither he nor any official of his government would dignify a non-existent body formed by the embattled Anadi and company.”