The Uyo zonal directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a legal practitioner, Alexander Uchenna Ozougwu, for allegedly defrauding victims of N1,323,850,000 through a fraudulent foreign exchange investment scheme.
Ozougwu was arraigned on Monday before Justice Sergius Onah of the Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on six-count charges bordering on obtaining money by false pretence.
The alleged offences contravene provisions of Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
According to a statement released by the EFCC on Friday, the defendant pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.
Following his plea, the prosecution counsel, Joshua O. Abolarin, urged the court to remand Ozougwu at a correctional facility and set a date for trial.
However, the defence counsel, C. M. Onuchukwu, requested bail on self-recognisance, assuring the court of his client’s commitment to standing trial.
After hearing arguments from both parties, Justice Onah granted bail in the sum of N500 million, with two sureties in like sum.
The court mandated that the sureties must be civil servants of grade level 12 and above and possess landed properties within the court’s jurisdiction.
Additionally, the defendant was ordered to surrender his international passport and provide two recent passport photographs.
Ozougwu was docked based on petitions from four individuals who alleged that he misrepresented himself as a registered Bureau de Change operator with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Gaining their trust, he reportedly collected their betting account passwords under the pretext of funding their accounts but instead diverted the funds.
Investigations revealed that the defendant was operating a Ponzi scheme under the guise of foreign exchange transactions, siphoning most of the funds into various betting platforms.
The EFCC disclosed that a total of N1.3 billion was misappropriated from the petitioners’ accounts.
The case has been adjourned to March 31, 2025, for trial.
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