Crime
EFCC arraigns SunTrust Bank Directors over alleged $12 million money laundering scandal
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Friday, June 13, 2025 arraigned the duo of Halima Buba and Innocent Mbagwu before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja for alleged fraud.
The defendants, who are Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd and Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd, respectively are being prosecuted on a six-count charge, bordering on money laundering to the tune of $12 million (Twelve Million Dollars).
Count two of the charge reads: “That you, HALIMA BUBA, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer SunTrust Bank Ltd, and INNOCENT MBAGWU being the Executive Director /Chief Compliance Officer SunTrust Bank Ltd on the 10th day of March, 2025 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court aided Femi Gbamgboye to make a cash payment of the sum of Three Million United States Dollars ($3,000,000) to Suleiman Muhammed Chiroma and associates without going through a financial institution and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 2l(a), 2(1), 19(l)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 19 (2) (b) of the same Act.”
Count three reads: “That you, HALIMA BUBA, the Managing Director/ChiefExecutive Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd and INNOCENT MBAGWU, the Executive Director/Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd on the 13th day of March, 2025 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired amongst yourselves to make a cash payment of the sum of Three Million United States Dollars ($3,000,000) to Mukhtar Miko an associate of Suleiman Muhammed Chiroma without going through a financial institution and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 2l(a), 2( 1 ), 19(1 )( d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 19 (2) (b) of the same Act.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges when they read to them, following which the lead prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN announced the readiness of the prosecution to proceed with the trial and prayed for accelerated hearing of the case. The defence counsel, J.J. Usman, SAN on his part, reminded the court of subsisting bail applications of the defendants, dated May 27, 2025 and prayed that the court should uphold the applications and admit the defendants to bail.
The prosecution counsel in his response, described the May 27, 2025 bail application of the defendants as incompetent, given that the defendants were neither under arrest, nor in detention, nor have appeared before the court, being the grounds provided by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA that should precipitate a bail application, but rather applied for bail from the comfort of their homes or offices when nor action has been taken against them. He therefore prayed the court to discountenance the said bail application and urged the defendants to make fresh bail applications in court.
While the position of the prosecution met opposition from the defence, Justice Nwite, however, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N100million (One Hundred Million Naira), each as well as one surety each, in like sum. The sureties he held must have landed properties in Abuja of which the particulars of the properties would be deposited with the court. The sureties are also to deposit their passports and two recent passport photographs with the court. In addition, all the documents the sureties provided, including their residences must be verified by the court before approval.
He ordered that they should be remanded in correctional facility pending the fulfilment of their bail conditions and adjourned the matter till July 17 and 18 for continuation of trial.
A Lagos High Court, located in Ikeja, has issued a sentence of seven years’ imprisonment to Mohammed Gobir, a former director of Afromedia Plc, for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme that involved multi-million naira and foreign currency transactions.
Gobir was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in September 2015 at his residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, following an investigation into what officials described as one of the most elaborate frauds in Nigeria’s corporate sector.
Delivering judgement on Tuesday, Raliat Adebiyi, the presiding judge, found Gobir guilty on all 17 counts filed against him by the EFCC.
The charges bordered on stealing, obtaining money by false pretence, forgery, and possession of fraudulent documents.
The petition said Gobir falsely claimed he would invest N1 billion in Afromedia but instead syphoned large sums, including $3.5 million, N514.4 million, $2.1 million, and £51,000.
In one instance, Gobir claimed he needed $250,000 to secure a waiver certificate for the release of $250 million allegedly frozen by anti-money laundering officials in the United Kingdom (UK)—which was dismissed by the court as fictitious.
Gobir had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
However, Adebiyi noted that the scheme is a “grave breach of trust” and “a betrayal of fiduciary duty”.
The judge, who ordered the convict to pay restitution of $1 million and N123 million for the convictions, said his sentences are to run concurrently.
Reacting to the judgement, the EFCC described the verdict as a “watershed moment” in the fight against economic crimes and a clear message that no individual is above the law.
Gobir is to serve his sentence in a Nigerian correctional facility.
Crime
First Bank: EFCC arraigns Abel Sokari, Nkiruka Chukwuma and firm over alleged €49 million fraud attempt
EFCC arraigns Abel Sokari, Nkiruka Chukwuma and firm over alleged €49 million fraud attemp
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, has arraigned two individuals Abel Egerton Sokari and Nkiruka Chukwuma alongside a company, Zakah Global Investment Limited over an alleged €49 million fraud attempt.
According to the EFCC, the defendants attempted to fraudulently obtain €49,000,000 from First Bank of Nigeria using forged documents and false representation of a foreign bank transaction.
They were docked on Monday, July 7, 2025, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence, possession of fraudulent documents, and forgery.
One of the charges reads:
“That you, Abel Egerton Sokari, Nkiruka Chukwuma, Zakah Global Investment Limited, Cheryl Austin Adanti (at large), Husain Abid (at large), Shazad Muhammed (at large), and Ismail Adil (at large), on or about the 19th day of May 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, attempted to obtain the sum of Forty-Nine Million Euros (€49,000,000.00) from First Bank of Nigeria by falsely representing that Bayan Investment Bank and Hedge Fund Statutory Trust had transferred the aforementioned sum into account number 2046430791 belonging to Zakah Global Investment Limited, domiciled at First Bank of Nigeria.”
The commission also accused the defendants of possessing forged legal documents purportedly linked to a former U.S. president’s defence attorney.
“That you, Abel Egerton Sokari and Nkiruka Chukwuma, sometime in April 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession a document containing false pretences, to wit: a letter purportedly from the law office of Steven H. Sado, P.C., a lead defence attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump, which document you knew to be false,” they stated
Defendants plead not guilty
Sokari and Chukwuma pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought against them. Prosecution counsel H.U. Kofarnaisa applied for a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody.
Counsel to the first and second defendants Clement Onwenwnor, SAN, and Laolu Owolabi, SAN urged the court to grant their clients bail on the most liberal terms. They also undertook to take custody of the defendants pending the perfection of bail.
Justice Dada granted each defendant bail in the sum of N500,000, with one surety in like sum. They were temporarily released to their counsel, with a one-month deadline to meet the bail conditions.
The matter was adjourned to October 29, 2025, for trial.
What you should know
Nairametrics reported that the EFCC, through its Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate, arraigned Ugochukwu Joseph Nwaemere, Executive Director of Pennhydro-Pell Oil and Gas Limited, before Justice E.A. Obile of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt over a N750 million bank fraud involving Polaris Bank.
According to the EFCC, Nwaemere, alongside a co-conspirator currently at large, allegedly approached Polaris Bank in April 2023 for a loan, claiming his company had secured a contract for dredging and stockpiling 100,000 tonnes of sharp sand for the Bodo-Bonny Road Project.
To support the request, he allegedly presented a forged invoice dated November 29, 2022, purportedly issued and cleared by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
The EFCC said the document was fabricated to mislead the bank into believing that the contract was genuine and that the company had reached a payment milestone.
Based on the forged document and false claims, the bank disbursed N750 million to the defendant. However, after disbursement, it was discovered that no such contract existed and the invoice was not recognized by Julius Berger.
Efforts by the bank to recover the funds reportedly failed, prompting a petition and subsequent EFCC investigation.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, a gaming promoter and founder of Bigibet, along with his company, Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, over an alleged N855 million investment fraud.
The arraignment took place on Wednesday, July 8, before Justice O.A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.
Abiodun and Noblesteed Nigeria Limited are facing a 10-count charge bordering on stealing and obtaining money under false pretences, allegedly committed between June and September 2021.
How the fraud was committed
According to the EFCC, the defendant approached the petitioner in 2021 and introduced Noblesteed Nigeria Limited as a company engaged in the lottery and gaming business.
Abiodun claimed he was raising capital for the business and persuaded the petitioner to invest in Noblesteed’s equity capital. He also assured the petitioner of his long-standing experience in the industry.
Convinced by these representations, the petitioner invested heavily and brought in other individuals who collectively deposited N855 million into the defendant’s designated bank account.
However, the EFCC alleged that after receiving the funds, Abiodun failed to refund the investors or deliver on his promises, thereby breaching the terms of the investment.
Details from the court charges
One of the charges reads:
“That you, Mr. Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, sometime between June, 2021 and September, 2021 in Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, deceitfully obtained the total sum of N855,000,000.00 (Eight Hundred and Fifty-Five Million Naira) only, from several unsuspecting persons, through your GT Bank Account No. 0591549473, by falsely representing to them that the said amount was an investment for the purchase of Equity Share Capital of Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, which representation you knew to be false…”
The charges were brought under Sections 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006.
Abiodun and his company pleaded not guilty to all 10 counts.
Court orders remand, sets trial dates
Following the plea, EFCC counsel A.M. Dambuwa requested the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility and set a date for trial.
In response, the defence counsel, Adeyinka Abdulsalam, informed the court that a bail application had already been filed and served.
Justice Okunuga ordered that Abiodun be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the hearing of the bail application, which is scheduled for July 9, 2025.
The court also fixed September 17, 2025, for the commencement of the trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, arraigned Bright Echefu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Telecom Satellites Limited (TStv) and three others on a nine-count money laundering charges.
Count six of the charges alleged that Echefu defrauded Mr Tanimu, MD of Kalsiyam Global and also former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, the sum of N380 million.
Others arraigned alongside Echefu before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abua include the Executive Director of TStv, Felix Igboanuga; TStv and Briechberg Investment Ltd as 2nd to 4th defendants respectively. They, however, pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
Upon their non-guilty plea, EFCC’s counsel, Tahir Sylvanus, SAN, prayed for an order remanding Echefu and Igboanuga in a correctional centre pending the hearing and determination of the case.
Sylvanus hinged his application on the grounds that it took almost a year after filing the charge before the defendants could be arraigned.
The lawyer, who said Echefu and Igboanuga were a flight risk, alleged that the duo refused to turn up for arraignment after being admitted to administrative bail and the charge filed on June 9, 2023. He, therefore, asked for a speedy trial of the matter.
But Eyitayo Fatogun, SAN, who appeared for the defendants, informed the court that a bail application had been filed on his client’s behalf in October 2023. He urged the court to admit them to bail, pledging that the defendants were ready to stand their trial.
Other allegations
The defendants were alleged to have, on or about May 18, 2020, committed the money laundering offence, including tax evasion, unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) deducted from the salaries of 165 staff.
The offence is said to be contrary to the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2012) and punishable under Section 15(3) and (4) of the same Act.
In count five, Echefu, being the MD of Briechberg Investment Ltd on or about May 18, 2020, in Abuja, with intent to defraud, was alleged to have obtained the sum of N150 million from Mr Turaki Kabiru Tanimu, SAN, MD of Kalsiyam Farm.
The monies were said to have been paid into Briechberg Investment Lid account number: 1015561485 domiciled with Zenith Bank Pic under the false pretence of representing loan advance to Telcom Satellite for the purpose of enhancing the acquisition of modern technology.
Echefu was alleged to have misappropriated and converted the said monies to his personal use, among other counts.
What you should know
TStv, a satellite TV company launched by Echefu was expected to crush the monopolistic tendencies of Multichoice, owners of DStv and GOtv in Nigeria.
Touted as the first and only fully indigenous Pay-Tv operator in the country, TSTV came into the industry on October 1, 2017, with mouth-watering offerings that raised the hope of many Nigerians. Indeed, its decision to launch on the country’s Independence Day was said to be symbolic of a declaration of ‘freedom’ in the Pay-Tv industry. But the company disappeared after the launch.
It, however, made a comeback on October 1, 2020, with a promise to offer Nigerians the best experience in Pay-Tv service in Nigeria.
Still, its service remained off and on leaving its subscribers, who had invested in the company’s decoders with constant complaints.
TStv completely went off the radar again in March last year and has remained so to date without any explanation to the subscribers aside from the intermittent apologies of ‘technical glitches’ during its active says.
A businessman, Peter Otomewu and his company, Pebeto Enerji Limited, were on Monday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, before the Ikeja Special Offences Court for allegedly defrauding a petroleum services company of $75,000.
The defendants were docked on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and stealing, preferred against them by the EFCC.
The anti-graft agency’s prosecution counsel, M.S. Owede, told the court that Otomewu and his firm committed the alleged offences sometime in 2018.
Owode told the court that the defendants fraudulently obtained the sum of $75,000 from Virgin Forest Energy Limited under the false pretext that they had a vessel, MT AYSU, capable of transshipping petroleum products from a mother vessel.
The prosecutor alleged that the representation was false and that the money was never used for the stated purpose.
Otomewu and his firm were accused of dishonestly converting the entire $75,000 property of Virgin Forest Energy Limited to their use.
According to the EFCC, the offences committed contravened Sections 278, 278(1), and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and Section 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.
However, both defendants who were docked before Justice Mojisola Dada pleaded not guilty to the charges against them when it was read.
Following the not-guilty plea, Owede asked for a trial date and also urged the court to remand the first defendant, Otomewu, in a correctional centre.
But the defence counsel, Mr Peter Ajabor, however, prayed the court to grant bail to the defendants on liberal terms.
Consequently, Justice Dada granted bail to the defendants in the sum of N50m, with two sureties in like sum.
The judge ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed and reside within the court’s jurisdiction.
She also ordered that the sureties must have N50m in their bank accounts.
Justice Dada further ordered the remand of Otomewu in the correctional centre, pending the perfection of the bail conditions.
The matter was adjourned to September 29, 2025, for commencement of trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has interrogated an Abuja-based businesswoman, Halimat Tejuosho, over her alleged involvement in an appointment and contract scam.
Tejuosho, said to be the founder of Haleems Integrated Services Limited, was reportedly quizzed after victims accused her of using false pretenses to obtain funds in exchange for promises of federal appointments and lucrative government contracts.
Counsel to one of the victims, Chief Tolu Babaleye, alleged that Tejuosho ran an elaborate scheme involving forged documents and fake appointment letters to deceive unsuspecting individuals.
He claimed she posed as an aide to the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, to lend credibility to her claims.
“The court had earlier recommended her for prosecution on charges bordering on Advance Fee Fraud, Criminal Diversion of Funds, Criminal Breach of Trust, and Cheating,” Babaleye said.
He also alleged that Tejuosho used her involvement in humanitarian and NGO activities as a smokescreen to attract victims and gain their trust.
EFCC Spokesperson, Mr Dele Oyewale, confirmed that she was invited for questioning and has since been granted administrative bail under stringent conditions.
Investigations are ongoing, and the commission says she may be formally charged to court in the coming weeks.
The anti-graft agency also urged other potential victims to come forward, reiterating its resolve to clamp down on all forms of financial crime.
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