- * As EFCC Arraigns Lawyer Over Alleged N91 Million Land Fraud In Enugu
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief) @CelestineOkaf11
The Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has secured the conviction and imprisonment of a fake United States soldier, Chukwuema Samuel Andrew.
He was arraigned on two-count charges bordering on advance fee fraud contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
Count one of the charges reads: "That you, Chukwuema Samuel Andrew (a.k.a Mary Parlier) sometime in April, 2021 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of $5,300 (Five Thousand Three Hundred Dollars) under the pretext of being Mary Parlier, a female soldier serving in Yemen as a computer operator, a pretext which to your knowledge was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act."
He pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him, prompting prosecution counsel, B. O. Agala to pray the court to convict and sentence him accordingly, while defence counsel P. U. Ogbuehi prayed the judge to temper justice with mercy stating that his client was a first -time offender with no previous criminal records.
Justice Ajoku convicted and sentenced Andrew to 30 months imprisonment. Besides his prison term, he forfeited his Redmi mobile phone and iPhone 12 Pro to the Federal government and deposed to an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.
The convict’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he was nabbed by EFCC operatives for internet fraud sometime in June, 2023, at Golf Estate, Port Harcourt in an operation code named "Eagle Sweep." His profiling revealed that he became involved in different shades of cybercrime including dating and romance scam in 2021.
The $5,300 proceeds of crime he earned was sent to him as itunes cards, steam cards and Bitcoins through his vendor who converted them to naira values via his Access Bank and United Bank for Africa accounts.
In another development, EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede has stated that, individuals who obstruct the Commission or its authorized officers in the exercise of their duties run afoul of Section 38(a)(b) of the Commission’s Establishment Act. The same, he said, also applies to those who fail to comply with lawful enquiries or demands made by authorized officers of the Commission.
He disclosed this during a lecture organized by officers of Advanced and Intelligence Intermediate Course of the Nigerian Navy on the “History, Roles and Organization of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC” at the Navy Intelligence School Ubima, Rivers State.
The EFCC Chairman, who was represented at the event by Chief Superintendent of EFCC, CSE Itoro Levi Azuogu, Head CTGI 2, Port Harcourt Zonal Command, stated that the Commission had the constitutional power to seek and receive information from any person, authority or entity without inhibitions in the cause of its investigations. He, therefore, enjoined individuals and entities to be forthcoming with information required of them by the Commission as refusal to do so constitutes a criminal offence.
To further educate the public on the responsibilities of the Commission, Olukoyede listed the scope of EFCC’s mandate to include the combatting of “non-violent criminal and illicit activities, committed with the objective of earning illegitimate wealth, either by individuals or a group, organized in any manner that violates existing legislation governing the economic activities of the government, which includes any form of fraud, money laundering, embezzlement, bribery, looting, all forms of malpractices, smuggling, bunkering, tax evasion, illegal oil bunkering, currency counterfeiting, intellectual property theft amongst others.”
The Deputy Commandant, Navy Intelligence School, G.O. Babtunde, in his closing remarks, thanked CSE Azuogu for the insightful lecture.
Meanwhile, the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, January 31, 2024 arraigned one Barrister Mike Ikegbunam before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State on a seven-count charge bordering on money laundering and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N91,000,000.00 (Ninety-One Million Naira).
One of the counts reads: “That you, Mike Ikegbunam on 16th August, 2022 in Umuagu Ozu Village, Anambra State within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria with intent to defraud, induced the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions of Nigeria to deliver to you, the sum of N25,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Million naira) under the pretence that you are capable of acquiring some portions of land for their members at Umuagu Ndiukwuanu Town in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.
He pleaded “not guilty” when the charges were read to him."
In view of his plea, Counsel to the EFCC, Nuradeen Shehu Ingawa prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded at the Correctional Centre. The defence counsel, A. G. Anyigo prayed the court to admit his client to bail adding that “the defendant is a very responsible personality in the society”.
Responding, Ingawa vehemently opposed the bail application based on the gravity of the offence and urged the court to dismiss the bail application.
In his ruling, Justice Umar granted the defendant bail on self recognizance being a legal practitioner on the following conditions;
That the defendant must deposit his Call to Bar Certificate with the court and make available one surety, who must be his cousin.
The defendant was remanded at the EFCC custody pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions.
The judge adjourned the matter to March 21, 2024 for trial.
Ikegbunam was arrested on July 12, 2023 owing to the claims of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi Branch, alleging that its members paid N91million to him for the purchase of 130( One Hundred and Thirty plots of land at Umuagu, Ozu Ndiukwuanu Town, in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Investigations showed that the defendant, who has refunded N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) to the Association, used N16,500,000 (Sixteen Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), suspected to be part of the money to acquire three plots of land for himself at Dubai Estate, Phase 2 in Awka, Anambra State. NNL.
