Crime
Investment Fraud: Witnesses Tell Court How They Were Scammed In Afriq Arbitrage System
Investment Fraud: Witnesses Tell Court How They Were Scammed In Afriq Arbitrage System
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, April 16, 2026, presented Prosecution Witnesses 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, FCT Abuja in the ongoing trial of Jesam Michael Ubi and Afriq Arbitrage System, AAS for their alleged involvement in investment fraud.
The witnesses who are victims of Ubi, the first defendant’s arbitrage trading platform, Afriq Arbitrage System, AAS, testified on the loss of their investment capital and promised return on investment.
Led in their testimony by the prosecution counsel, Ekele Iheanacho SAN, PW12, Okoye Eugene, a welder, told the court that he invested in an investment platform called COTPS which crashed. He disclosed that the first defendant through the investment’s social media group, encouraged him to continue investing even as it became apparent to him that he had been scammed. He also told the court that it was from the social group the first defendant migrated him and other investors to a telegram group and introduced his arbitrage trading platform AAS to them.
He told the court that he was convinced to invest because the first defendant had told the investors that their money was safe and warehoused in the Binance liquidity pool, where no unauthorised person can access. He added that the first defendant showed pictures of his wife, children and mother to them on the telegram group to further convince him. These, he said, gave him the assurance for which he had to invest over $82,000 (Eighty Two Thousand Dollars) on behalf of himself, his friends and families.
The PW12 further told the court that in April 2023, the first defendant told him and other investors that there was a glitch in the system and that as a result they could no longer get Return on Investment, RoI. However, he stated that he knew that something was wrong after the first defendant told them that a certain Abayomi stole $87,000,000 (Eighty Seven Million Dollars) but that their capital was still intact because he stole from their interest pool and not the capital pool and were assured that they would start getting their RoI.
He further told the court that the first defendant also assured him that he could access his capital within hours once he sent an email to the support team. He regretted that till date, neither interest nor the capital he invested has been made available to him.
Prosecution Witness 13, Salihu Z. Ibrahim, a business man from Auchi, Edo State, who deals in kitchen wares, told the court that he was also given one hundred percent assurance that his investment was safe and that the platform was secured from any form of external breach. He disclosed that he was also convinced to invest after the first defendant gave assurances of the safety of his money in Binance liquidity pool.
However, he stated that as developments began to take a bad turn in the investment platform and with investors demanding RoI and their capitals, they were forcefully removed from the telegram platform, threatened and even arrested. He also disclosed that financial figures on the investment platform became manipulated.
Prosecution Witness 14, Johnson Veronica stated that she sold her cars and other properties and invested about $80,000 (Eighty Thousand Dollars) in AAS, adding that since the day she invested, her life has taken a drastic turn for the worse. She told the court that she lost her marriage and all her life savings as a result.
She further told the court that after investing, the first defendant told her that he was going for a liver treatment, claiming that while he was in the hospital, a certain Abayomi, compromised his face and fingerprint biometrics and that of his wife and gained unauthorised access to the funds in the interest pool and stole $87,000,000 (Eighty Seven Million Dollars). She told the court that she rather suspected foul play from the first defendant because he had told them that not even him, the creator of the platform, could breach it.
Prosecution Witness 15, Ayam Sebastian Chinwendu, a civil servant who also took loans to invest in both the AAS trading platform and a more recent token introduced to investors by the defendant, invested over $3,000 (Three Thousand Dollars) and had since been stranded with no recovery of her funds.
Prosecution Witness 16, Okonkwo Leonard Emeka testified that he was introduced to the platform by his sister and invested over $20,000 (Twenty Thousand Dollars) into the AAS platform and a further $17,000 in the newly floated token with the hope of receiving returns on his investment, but disclosed that from the time of his investment till date, he has neither been paid his initial capital or a return on investment.
Fraud
According to him “I have put in all I have into this and convinced others to invest and now this is costing me my family. I don’t want the RoI anymore. I just want the money I invested so that I can take care of my family.
Eereporter.com
According to him, he felt bad that even after the first defendant had told them of a certain Abayomi stealing from the interest pool and that they would not get RoI, he wondered why the first defendant went on living an opulent lifestyle, displaying swimming pools with his name them and driving expensive cars while he could not have access to his capital as promised.
All the witnesses confirmed to the court that the trading platform, AAS, could no longer be accessed by the investors. They also told the court that they did not believe the first defendant used the money invested for arbitrage trading as he assured he would.
The prosecution counsel tendered screenshots of the witnesses’ dashboards and other pages of the investment platforms which were all admitted in evidence by the court.
The case was adjourned till May 14, 2026 for continuation of trial.
EFCC Arraigns Former SKye Bank Chairman, Tunde Ayeni For N15.6b Fraud
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 4, 2026, arraigned a former Chairman, Board of Directors of the defunct Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni before Justice Jude Onwuzuruike of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Apo, Abuja.
Ayeni was arraigned on a 17-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and conversion of investors’ funds to the tune N15,665,085,429 (Fifteen Billion, Six hundred and Sixty five Million, Eighty five thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty-nine Naira (N15,665,085,429).
Prosecution counsel E.E. Iheanacho, SAN, informed the court that the matter was slated for arraignment and prosecution ready for trial.
“We have before the court 17-count charge dated April 28, 2026, we humbly apply that the charge be read to the defendant”, he said.
Eereporter.com
Count three of the charge reads: “That you, Tunde Ayeni, whilst being the Chairman, Board of Directors of the defunct Skye Bank Plc between 21st of October, 2014 and 19th November, 2014 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court and having dominion over depositors funds domiciled in the defunct Skye bank Plc’s Suspense Account, committed criminal breach of trust when you dishonestly misappropriated the aggregate sum of Three billion, Two hundred and One million, Five Hundred and Thirty Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Twenty Nine Naira, Forty two kobo(N3,201,535,429.42) by transferring same to Misa Limited’s account No: 1011295717 and 1011295718 domiciled with Zenith Bank in Violation of the Prudential Guidelines and other regulations and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 312 of the same Act.
Count five of the charge reads: “That you Tunde Ayeni, whilst being the Chairman, Board of Directors of the Defunct Skye Bank Plc on or about 27th November, 2014, at Abuja within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court and having dominion over depositors’ funds domiciled in the defunct Skye bank Plc’s Suspense Account, committed criminal breach of trust when you dishonestly misappropriated the sum of Five Billion, Seventy Eight million, Five hundred and Fifty thousand Naira(N5, 078,550,000) by transferring same to Union Registrar Limited’s Account No: 0003490559 domiciled with Union Bank in violation of the Prudential Guidelines and other Regulations and thereby Committed an offence contrary to Section 311 of the Penal Code and Punishable under Section 312 of same Act.”
Fraud
Ayeni pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.
In view of his “not guilty” plea, Iheanacho prayed the court for a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a Correctional Centre.
Defence counsel, Ahmed Raji Bashir, SAN, informed the court that the charge was given to the defendant on a public holiday adding that he considered it imperative to inform the court. He also prayed the court to release the defendant to him or return him to the custody of the EFCC.
Justice Onwuzuruike adjourned the matter to May 13, 2026, for hearing of the bail application, while the defendant was remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending determination of bail application.
EFCC Arraigns Fake BDC Operator For Alleged N78. 2m Fraud In Onitsha
The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned one Okeke Ejike Callistus, a fake Bureau De Change operator before Justice D. A. Onyefulu of the Anambra State High Court sitting in Onitsha, Anambra State.
Callistus was arraigned on a ten-count charge bordering on forgery and stealing to the tune of N78, 295, 000 (Seventy-eight million, Two hundred and Ninety-five thousand Naira).
Count one of the charge reads: “Mr. Okeke Ejike Callistus (trading under the name and style of Nwachimereze Amen Resources), sometime on the 2nd of May, 2024, at Onitsha, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Anambra State, did commit a felony to wit: stealing by fraudulently converting to your personal use the sum of N62, 745, 000. 00 (Sixty-two million, Seven hundred and Forty-five thousand Naira) being property of Ezegwu Leonard Chinedu trading under the name and style of Leatez Enterprises and thereby committed an offence”.
Eereporter.com
Count two of the charge reads: “That you, Okeke Ejike Callistus (trading under the name and style of Nwachimereze Amen Resources), sometime between the 3rd to the 7th of May, 2024 at Onitsha, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Anambra State, did commit a felony to wit: stealing by fraudulently converting to your personal use the sum of N15, 550, 000. 00 (Fifteen million, Five hundred and Fifty thousand Naira) being property of Ezegwu Leonard Chinedu and thereby committed an offence”.
The offence contravenes Section 342 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 36, Anambra State and punishable under Section 353 (12) of the same Law.
The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charges preferred against him by the Commission and in view of his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE II Rotimi Enitan Ajobiewe prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded at the facility of the Nigerian Correctional Service.
However, defence counsel, Hypolite Ohaneche informed the court about a pending bail application before it, moved it and prayed the court to admit his client to bail.
Ajobiewe opposed the bail application on the ground that “there is likelihood of the defendant jumping bail due to the fact that he previously jumped bail granted him by the Commission”.
After listening to both sides, Justice Onyefulu granted the defendant bail in the sum of N50million with two sureties. One of them must have a tax clearance certificate. The sureties must be related to the defendant, live within the jurisdiction of the court and have a National identification Number.
EFCC
The defendant was arrested when a petitioner, Ezeugwu Leonard Chinedu, claimed that he gave him the sum of N78, 295, 000 for onward transmission to his business partner in China.
Instead of remitting the money, the defendant remitted some and sent telex copies of “ABA Bank of Cambodia” for the outstanding amount, which upon presentation to the partner in China, were found to be fake.
During the course of investigation, the defendant admitted receiving the said sum but added that he diverted part of the money for his personal use.
Nigerian Navy Storms Dayspring Island, Routs Militants, Demolishes Hideout In Cross River
The Nigerian Navy has escalated its offensive against criminal elements in the maritime domain, delivering decisive blows to militant networks operating along the Calabar–Oron channel in Cross River State.
In a series of aggressive clearance operations, personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) VICTORY and Forward Operating Base (FOB) IBAKA stormed Dayspring Island following the recent surge in kidnappings and related criminal activities.
The operation was anchored on the establishment of a forward security outpost at Idung 1 (Peacock Crossing), providing a tactical foothold for sustained dominance of the creeks and adjoining waterways.
The rapid offensive forced suspected militants to abandon their positions and flee upon contact with advancing naval troops. Maintaining relentless pressure, Nigerian Navy personnel, in conjunction with troops of the Nigerian Army 13 Brigade, secured key waterways and denied the criminals freedom of movement.
Eereporter.com
Exploitation of the area led to the discovery and destruction of a militant hideout linked to a notorious suspect known as “Juju” in the Idung axis. The suspect fled in disarray, abandoning two boats fitted with outboard engines, which were immediately seized. The hideout was subsequently demolished to eliminate its future use as a criminal sanctuary.
Further tightening the noose, troops tracked and apprehended one suspected informant providing support to the militant network. The suspect is currently in custody, undergoing interrogation and will be handed over to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.
Nigerian Navy
To consolidate operational gains and choke criminal activity, a 13-hour restriction on maritime movement from 5:00 pm to 6:00 am has been enforced within the operational area.
Prior to the intervention, militant elements operated with impunity, conducting kidnappings and extorting riverine communities. The sustained naval onslaught has now degraded their operational capability, disrupted their logistics, and confined their activities deep within the creeks.
The Nigerian Navy remains resolute and will sustain this aggressive posture, ensuring that all criminal elements are flushed out and the maritime environment remains secure for lawful activities.
-
Crime1 year agoKogi Assembly Considers Law To Regulate Rent, Establish Control Board: Tenancy Law
-
News1 year agoAtiku Reveals Why He Failed To Pick Wike As Running Mate In 2023
-
Akwa Ibom1 year agoThe Apostolic Church Gets New Territorial Chairman, Exco
-
Crime1 year agoFederal High Court Jails 2 For Vandalizing Transformer, Telecom Mast In Kogi
-
News1 year agoThe Apostolic Church Gets New National President, Executive
-
Akwa Ibom1 year agoUmo Eno Commences Payment Of 80,000 Naira Minimum Wage With Arrears
-
News1 year agoSenator Natasha Returns To Senate With Husband Amid Seat Dispute
-
Economy1 year agoKiyosaki: Is Tinubu’s Government Afraid Of Ibrahim Traore?