The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a three-count charge against two detained promoters of the controversial Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) over an alleged investment fraud scheme totalling over $1 billion.
The accused—Avwerosuo Otorudo and Chukwuebuka Ehirim—were arraigned before the Federal High Court, Abuja, in a charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/216/2025.
The commission alleges that the duo operated CBEX without necessary regulatory approvals and lured unsuspecting Nigerians into a fraudulent investment scheme.
According to court documents filed by EFCC counsel, Fadila Yusuf, the two defendants operated CBEX as an unregistered financial entity between January 2024 and May 2025.
The EFCC noted that CBEX was not incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and lacked a valid licence from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to manage investment portfolios.
The anti-graft agency said this contravenes Section 158(1) of the Investment and Securities Act, 2007, and is punishable under Section 158(2) of the same Act.
In the second count, Otorudo and Ehirim were accused of soliciting deposits from the public through advertisements, despite not being a bank or licensed financial institution.
This, the EFCC noted, violates Section 44(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020, and is punishable under Section 44(2).
The third count alleges that the defendants engaged in the specialised business of investment management without appropriate regulatory approval, also contrary to BOFIA, specifically Sections 57(1) and (2), and punishable under Section 57(5).
The case, which is yet to be assigned to a trial judge, is the latest development in the EFCC’s ongoing probe into CBEX’s operations. PLATFORM TIMES recalls that Justice Emeka Nwite had, on April 24, granted the EFCC permission to arrest and detain six key operators of the platform, including the two now charged.
The others identified by the commission include Adefowora Olanipekun, Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, and Seyi Oloyede.
However, only Otorudo, Ehirim, and Olanipekun were reported to have voluntarily surrendered to the EFCC after the court granted the arrest warrant.
In an earlier motion ex parte filed by the EFCC on April 23, Yusuf argued that the suspects were at large and required to be arrested for proper investigation and prosecution.
The EFCC says it remains committed to uncovering the full extent of the fraudulent operations and bringing all responsible parties to justice.
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