Section 434-442 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Section 434, 435, 436, 437,438, 439, 440, 441, 442 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act is under Chapter 40 (Frauds by trustees and officers of companies and corporations: false accounting) and Chapter 41 (Definitions) of the code.
Section 434 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Trustees fraudulently disposing of trust property
Any person who, being a trustee of any property, destroys the property with intent to defraud, or, with
intent to defraud, converts the property to any use unauthorised by the trust, is guilty of a felony and is
liable to imprisonment for seven years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.
If civil proceedings have been taken against a trustee in respect of any act done by him, which is an
offence under the provisions of this section of this Code, he cannot be afterwards prosecuted for the
same cause, as for an offence, on the complaint of the person by whom the civil proceedings were taken
without the sanction of the court or judge before whom the civil proceedings were had or are pending.
For the purposes of this section, the term “trustee” includes the following persons and no others(
a) trustees upon express trusts created by a deed, will, or instrument in writing, whether
for a public or private or charitable purpose;
(b) trustees appointed by or under the authority of an Act, law or statute for any such
purpose;
(c) persons upon whom the duties of any such trust as aforesaid devolve;
(d) executors and administrators.
Section 435 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Directors and officers of corporations or companies fraudulently appropriating property or
keeping fraudulent accounts, or falsifying books or accounts
Any person who‐
(1) being a director or officer of a corporation or company, receives or possesses himself as such
of any of the property of the corporation or company otherwise than in payment of a just debt or
demand, and, with intent to defraud, omits either to make a full and true entry thereof in the books and
accounts of the corporation or company, or to cause or direct such an entry to be made therein; or
(2) being a director, officer, or member of a corporation or company, does any of the following
acts with intent to defraud‐
(a) destroys, alters, mutilates, or falsifies, any book, document, valuable security, or account, which
belongs to the corporation or company, or any entry in any such book, documents, or account, or is
privy to any such act; or
(b) makes or is privy to making any false entry in any such book, document or account; or
(c) omits or is privy to omitting any material particular from any such book, document or
account,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.
Section 436 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
False statements by officials of companies
Any person who, being a promoter, director, officer, or auditor, of a corporation or company, either
existing or intended to be formed, makes, circulates, or publishes, or concurs in making, circulating, or
publishing, any written statement or account which in any material particular, is to his knowledge false,
with intent thereby to effect any of the following purposes‐
(a) to deceive or to defraud any member, shareholder, or creditor, of the corporation or
company, whether a particular person or not;
(b) to induce any person, whether a particular person or not, to become a member of, or to
entrust or advance any property to, the corporation or company, or to enter into any
security for the benefit thereof,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
The offender cannot be arrested without warrant.
Section 437 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Defence
It is a defence to a charge of any of the offences defined in this Chapter to prove that the accused
person, before being charged with the offence, and in consequence of the compulsory process of a
court in any action or proceedings instituted in good faith by a party aggrieved, or in a compulsory
examination or deposition before a court, disclosed on oath the act alleged to constitute the offence.
A person is not entitled to refuse to answer any question or interrogatory in any civil proceeding
in any court, on the ground that his doing so might tend to show that he had committed any such
offence.
Section 438 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Fraudulent false accounting
Any person who, being a clerk or servant, or being employed or acting in the capacity of a clerk or
servant, does any of the following acts with intent to defraud‐
(a) destroys, alters, mutilates, or falsifies, any book, document, valuable security, or
account, which belongs to or is in the possession of his employer, or has been received
by him on account of his employer, or any entry in any such book, document, or
account, or is privy to any such act; or
(b) makes, or is privy to making any false entry in any such book, document, or account; or
(c) omits, or is privy to omitting, any material particular from any such book, document, or
account,
is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
Section 439 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
False accounting by public officer
Any person who, being an officer charged with the receipt, custody, or management of any part of the
public revenue, knowingly furnishes any false statement or return of any money or property received by
him or entrusted to his care, or of any balance of money or property in his possession or under his
control, is guilty of a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for two years.
CHAPTER 41 – Definitions
Section 440 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Unlawful acts
An act which causes injury to the property of another, and which is done without his consent, is
unlawful unless it is authorised or justified or excused by law.
It is immaterial that the person who does the injury is in possession of the property injured or has a
partial interest in it.
A person is not criminally responsible for any injury caused to property by the use of such force as is
reasonably necessary for the purpose of defending or protecting himself, or any other person, or any
property, from injury which he believes, on reasonable grounds, to be imminent.
Section 441 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Acts done with intent to defraud
When an act which causes injury to property, and which would be otherwise lawful, is done with intent
to defraud any person, it is unlawful.
When an act which causes injury to property is done with intent to defraud any person, it is immaterial
that the property in question is the property of the offender himself.
Section 442 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act
Damage
The term “damage” used in relation to a document, or to a writing or inscription, includes obliterating
and rendering illegible, either in whole or in part.
