A United States court has ruled against controversial US-based Nigerian lawyer, Emeka Ugwuonye, in a civil case filed by the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, DC. The embassy’s lawsuit sought the recovery of a tax refund of $1.55 million it claimed Mr. Ugwuonye stole from real estate transactions he handled for the embassy.
In a default judgement rendered Tuesday, April 23, 2013, Judge Barbara J. Rothstein stated that the judgment against Mr. Ugwuonye’s law firm, ECU Associates, was appropriate because the firm had not responded to court orders to provide an attorney to separately defend the case against it.
SaharaReporters also learned that Mr. Ugwuonye failed to appear at the offices of the law firm retained by the embassy to honor a scheduled deposition. The lawyers for the embassy had written to notify the court that Mr. Ugwuonye did not show up at the deposition despite the fact that he was fully informed about it through court-approved modes of communication.
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SaharaReporters learnt that the embassy’s attorneys were seeking, among other things, to find out how Mr. Ugwuonye disbursed the tax refund he received on behalf of the embassy – but which he confiscated.
Mr. Ugwuonye had claimed repeatedly that he was entitled to the tax refund because the Nigerian authorities were “owing” him fees for prior “legal services” he had provided for the government of Nigeria. Nigerian officials in Abuja, including former Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa, maintained that the government did not owe any outstanding fees to Mr. Ugwuonye.
Mr. Ugwuonye failed to substantiate the claim of being owed even when the trial judge gave him an opportunity to authenticate that claim. He simply provided no credible proof.
In addition to Mr. Ugwuonye, former US deputy attorney general
, Bruce Fein, who reportedly took part in sharing the tax refunds that were illegally diverted by Mr. Ugwuonye, faces civil charges related to the funds.
Earlier yesterday, the court also ordered Mr. Fein to answer all interrogatories satisfactorily by tomorrow. It also instructed him to attend a mandatory phone conference with the judge at 1:00 p.m. New York time.
For a couple of years, the Maryland-based Ugwuonye blatantly used a series of lawsuits to harass and intimidate SaharaReporters and other Nigerians for exposing or questioning the tax refund fraud. He sued Saharareporters and its publisher for libel and slander before a US District Court. The case was dismissed late December, 2012 ruling, with Judge Messitte ruling that that Saharareporters had reported accurately and credibly on Mr. Ugwuonye’s dealings.
Mr. Ugwuonye appealed Judge Messitte’s ruling, but suffered another legal defeat when the appellate court dismissed his appeal owing to his failure to meet court orders to file grounds for his appeal. His appeal was tossed out on April 11, this year.
Mr. Ugwuonye, who has had a checkered professional career, also faces investigations by the State of Maryland Attorney Grievances Commission regarding the tax refund. The Nigerian embassy has filed a complaint seeking his disbarment for embezzling funds he collected on behalf of the embassy. In Lagos, Mr. Ugwuonye faces a separate trial in which he is accused of stealing $94,000 belonging to a Nigerian client, Sola Adeeyo. Mr. Adeeyo has complained to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that Mr. Ugwuonye defrauded him of the funds after representing him to recover the funds from an American bank.
In Abuja, Mr. Ugwuonye is also two facing criminal charges filed by the EFCC for breach of trust and failure to disclose his assets. The charges are linked to the attorney’s embezzlement of tax refunds collected on behalf of the Nigerian embassy in Washington, DC.
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