The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator, Chidiebere Christian Okeke, over an alleged N446.5 million fraud involving a businessman in Anambra State.
According to a statement by the anti-graft commission on Friday, Okeke was arraigned alongside two companies, Paderlambs Investment Limited and Ishiugbo Nigeria Limited, before Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court, Awka, on a three-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.
The EFCC alleged that between October and November 2023, the defendants obtained N446,579,629 from Izuchukwu Okeke of Alphard Candy and Sons Limited under the pretext of remitting its equivalent in Chinese Renminbi (RMB) to his business partner in China. The money was initially paid into the account of another BDC operator, Nwadili David Chukwuka, trading as Ifeabata Ventures, before being transferred to the accounts of the two companies.
The Commission further alleged that Chidiebere forged telex documents purportedly issued by JCI General Trading Pty Limited, Australia, to support the claim that the money had been remitted. The alleged offences contravene provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 2004.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following his plea, EFCC counsel, Assistant Commander of the EFCC II, Michael Ikechukwu Ani, urged the court to fix a trial date and remand him in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Awka. The court subsequently adjourned the matter to November 19, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and ordered that the defendant be remanded at the correctional facility.
The EFCC said the defendant was handed over to the Commission by the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 30, 2024, following a petition by Izuchukwu, who alleged that he had entrusted the money to Chukwuka between September and November 2023 for onward remittance to his business partner in China. Chukwuka reportedly told him that the money had been given to Chidiebere for the transaction.
When confronted, the defendant allegedly admitted receiving the funds but issued a dud cheque instead of remitting the money.
