Justice Rafael A. Ongkeko of the Superior Court of California has ordered former President of the Anambra State Association of USA (ASA-USA), Allison Anadi, and his co-defendants in a lawsuit to hand over the association’s documents, including financial statements. In addition, the judge ordered Mr. Anadi and other defendants to stop giving the impression that they remain officials of the association. ASA-USA was founded in 2002 and formally incorporated in 2007 in the State of California.
SaharaReporters obtained a copy of Justice Ongkeko’s final judgment in a lawsuit brought by Pius Okafor and Christopher Ikeanyi, two aggrieved members of ASA-USA, accusing Mr. Anadi, a controversial professor of criminal justice, and other defendants of misappropriating the association’s funds and violating numerous provisions of its byelaws. Apart from Mr. Anadi, the other defendants were Jonathan Okafor, a former secretary, Olisa Oraelosi, a former treasurer, and Victor Nwanso, former financial secretary.
In an earlier preliminary verdict delivered on March 26, 2015, Justice Ongkeko ruled that the defendants had defrauded members of ASA-USA of at least $132,000. The judge then ordered Mr. Anadi to refund $81,502, Mr. Oraelosi $47,494, Mr. Okafor $1,800, and Mr. Nwanso $1,362.
In the final judgment, which was dated May 15, 2015, Justice Ongkeko granted all the reliefs sought by the two plaintiffs who were represented by Timothy L. Neufeld and Yuriko M. Shikai from the law firm of Neufeld Marks. George E. Omoko represented Mr. Anadi and other defendants.
The judge ruled that the plaintiffs had established their case that ASA-USA must abide by its by-laws. He stated that ASA-USA must take all required steps “to elect a Board of Directors in accordance with the By-Laws and California law.”
Justice Ongkeko concluded that Mr. Anadi and his co-defendants “have vacated the ‘National’ offices they purport to hold, that they are no longer permitted to make any decisions or to take any action on behalf of ASA-USA, and that they are no longer entitled to maintain control of the books, records, financial accounts and other materials necessary to manage ASA-USA.”
The judge upheld the plaintiffs’ plea for enforcement of their rights to inspect ASA-USA’s financial and other documents. He consequently ordered the defendants to hand over all the association’s books, records, and other materials to the plaintiffs, Mr. Okafor and Mr. Ikeanyi.
According to the judgment, the “defendants Dr. Allison Anadi, Jonathan Okafor, Olisa Oraelosi, and Victor Nwanso, are not lawful or authorized representatives of ASA-USA,” adding, “they are not directors or officers of ASA-USA.” The judge warned the defendants that they “are not permitted to make decisions or take actions on behalf of ASA-USA; that ASA-USA is to immediately notice and hold a meeting of ASA-USA's members for the purpose of conducting a valid election of directors in accordance with the By-Laws and California law; and that the By-Laws are to be followed and enforced.” Justice Ongkeko permanently enjoined the defendants “from acting, or purporting to act, as officers or directors of ASA-USA; making any decisions or taking any action on behalf of ASA-USA; maintaining control of the books, records, financial accounts and other materials necessary to manage ASA-USA; using or authorizing the use of any ASA-USA monies, property or assets for any purpose; engaging in any further violations of the By-Laws and California law in all regards in connection with ASA-USA; and interfering with the lawful operation of ASA-USA in accordance with its By-Laws by its board of directors, to be duly elected in accordance with the By-Laws and California law.”
After reaffirming that the defendants must refund the sum of $132,000, the judge also ruled that Mr. Anadi and his cohorts are to pay for the plaintiffs’ costs, including their legal fees.
In 2013, SaharaReporters had reported that then Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State was pressuring the plaintiffs and other disaffected members of ASA-USA to drop the lawsuit against Mr. Anadi and some members of his executive. The lawsuit was triggered in part by Mr. Anadi’s reckless spending of the association’s funds for his personal affairs, and by his failure to account for huge sums of cash he had accepted from political figures, including oil marketer Ifeanyi Uba, as donations to the association.
At one point, in a futile bid to persuade the plaintiffs to withdraw their lawsuit, then Governor Obi offered to use the funds of Anambra State to repay the sums embezzled by Mr. Anadi, a professor of criminal justice at Southern University and A&M in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and his co-defendants. A source close to one of the plaintiffs told SaharaReporters that they were dismayed that Mr. Obi “was trying to use the relatively meager allocation to Anambra to rescue grown men who had exhibited gross greed, arrogance and disdain for the laws of the US. Nothing could have made the plaintiffs to stop the case from running its course.”
A legal source in California told SaharaReporters that, with the release of a final judgment by Justice Ongkeko, “the coast is now clear for the Office of the Attorney General in the State of California to bring criminal indictments against Professor Anadi and his partners in fraud.”