Fake Lawyer Collected N7.5m From Client, Then Hired Qualified Lawyer for N1.5m to Handle the Case

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and fined a 55-year-old man, John Nwawuto Anoruo, for impersonating a legal practitioner and using a forged Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) seal after falsely presenting himself as a lawyer.

Justice A.M. Lawal delivered the judgment on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, after Anoruo pleaded guilty to two counts bordering on impersonation and the use of a counterfeit NBA seal.

According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Anoruo operated a legal and educational consultancy in the Ikorodu area of Lagos and was arrested on April 20, 2026, following investigations into his activities.

The case stemmed from a petition Anoruo submitted to the EFCC on September 22, 2025, on behalf of clients against the management of Global West Vessel Specialist Nigeria Limited. Investigators later discovered that both the petition and a subsequent withdrawal letter dated March 5, 2026, carried a forged NBA seal.

The anti-graft agency said Anoruo admitted obtaining the fake NBA seal from an unidentified business centre in Lagos.

During investigations, he also claimed that he obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, through evening classes in 2018 but admitted he never attended the Nigerian Law School, making him unqualified to practise law in Nigeria.

Following the investigation, the EFCC arraigned him before the court on charges of using a counterfeit NBA seal and falsely representing himself as a qualified legal practitioner.

One of the charges alleged that Anoruo fraudulently used a forged NBA seal bearing Supreme Court enrolment number SCN037400 with the intention of passing it off as genuine. Another charge accused him of falsely presenting himself to the EFCC as a lawyer duly certified to practise in Nigeria while using an enrolment number that belonged to another legal practitioner.

After Anoruo pleaded guilty, EFCC prosecuting counsel, Saadatu Mahmud Yabo, called investigating officer Umar Faruk Ahmad to present the facts of the case.

Ahmad told the court that the investigation began after a petition from lawyer Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, who alleged that Anoruo had filed legal documents against him and his law firm while falsely posing as a legal practitioner.

According to the EFCC witness, checks confirmed that the Supreme Court enrolment number on the NBA seal used by Anoruo belonged to another lawyer. He also stated that Anoruo admitted he had never been called to the Nigerian Bar.

The investigating officer further revealed that Anoruo collected N7.5 million from a client for the legal brief but paid N1.5 million to a qualified lawyer to handle the case on his behalf.

Ahmad also informed the court that Anoruo appeared at the EFCC office dressed in a lawyer’s robe when he honoured the Commission’s invitation. A search of his residence later led to the recovery of the counterfeit NBA seal bearing another lawyer’s enrolment number.

The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the forged petition, the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, correspondence with the Body of Benchers and the Supreme Court, the lawyer’s attire, the fake NBA seal and evidence of a N300,000 bank draft paid into the EFCC recovery account. The defence raised no objection, and the court admitted all the exhibits.

In his plea for leniency, Anoruo told the court that he had paid N2.5 million to the individual who introduced the legal brief and another N1.5 million to the lawyer he engaged to handle the matter.

Defence counsel, G.E. Demkemefa, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, describing the defendant as a first-time offender and the sole breadwinner of his family, comprising his wife and five children. He appealed for a fine instead of a custodial sentence.

Delivering judgment, Justice Lawal convicted Anoruo on both counts based on his guilty plea.

The court sentenced him to a fine of N120,000 on the first count and N150,000 on the second count, bringing the total fine to N270,000, payable to the Lagos State Judiciary.

Justice Lawal also ordered that the legal practitioner’s attire and the forged NBA seal recovered from the defendant be forfeited to the Federal Government through the EFCC.