Justice A.M. Lawal convicted Anoruo after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge bordering on impersonation and the use of a counterfeit NBA seal.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Anoruo, who operated a legal and educational consultancy in Ikorodu, was arrested after investigations revealed that a petition and a subsequent withdrawal letter he submitted on behalf of clients carried a forged NBA seal.
Investigators said Anoruo claimed he obtained a law degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in 2018 through evening classes but admitted that he never attended the Nigerian Law School and was therefore not qualified to practise law in Nigeria.
The EFCC also discovered that the Supreme Court enrollment number on the fake NBA seal belonged to another lawyer. Anoruo confessed that he obtained the counterfeit seal from a business centre in Lagos.
During the trial, an EFCC investigator told the court that Anoruo received ₦7.5 million from a legal brief but paid ₦1.5 million to a licensed lawyer to handle the matter on his behalf.
The court also heard that Anoruo appeared at the EFCC office dressed in a lawyer's robe, while a search of his residence led to the recovery of the forged NBA seal.
Although his lawyer pleaded for leniency, describing him as a first-time offender and the breadwinner of a family of seven, Justice Lawal convicted him on both counts.
The court fined Anoruo ₦120,000 on one count and ₦150,000 on the second count, bringing the total fine to ₦270,000.
Justice Lawal also ordered the forfeiture of the forged NBA seal and legal attire recovered from him to the Federal Government through the EFCC.
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