New Telegraph

Woman defrauds investors of N179m

…spends N139m on sports betting, pays N1m tithe

A woman, Nkechi Mercy Ikogwe, and her companies, Elites Finance Investment Limited and Efinc Global Investment Limited, were on Monday arraigned for using N139 million of investors’ money on sports betting and spending another N1 million on the payment of tithe.

Ikogwe was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Port Harcourt Zonal Office, before Justice E. A. Obile of the Federal High Court on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.
Ikogwe ran into trouble after the EFCC received a report about the defendant and two others, accusing them of inducing victims into participating in a fraudulent investment scheme with a fake promise of 15 per cent return on investment.

The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, said that money was paid by the unsuspecting ‘investors’ into the defendant’s accounts, Ikogwe, with account numbers 2087478165 domiciled in a Tier 1 bank and Miss Joy Okari Ibiala 2099253758 domiciled in in another bank.
He said: “Further investigation revealed that the defendant spent N139,704,097 collected from subscribers to play sport betting and also paid tithe of N1 million to a leading Pentecostal church in Port Harcourt.”
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” when the charges were read to them.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Nkechi Mercy Ikogwe, Elites Finance Investment Limited and Efinc Global Investment Limited, sometime in 2019 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of 179,326,386.62 by inducing unsuspecting members of the public to invest with your companies: Elites Finance Investment Limited and Efinc Global Investment Limited, assuring them under a false pretence of making 15 per cent interest on all investments made, a representation you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”

In view of the plea by the defendants, prosecuting counsel, K. W. Chukwuma-Eneh, prayed the court to fix a date for commencement of trial.
But counsel to the defendants, G. N. Godwins, moved an oral application for the bail of the defendants which was opposed by the prosecution on the grounds that the application must be in writing and properly addressed to the court.
Justice Obile ordered that the 1st defendant be remanded in prosecution’s custody and adjourned the matter till October 19, 2020 for determination of the bail application.

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