EFCC Arraigns Couple for Fraud Allegation

Simon Udeani and his spouse Dorcas have been charged by the Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The arraignment took place in front of Justice M.G. Umar of the Federal High Court located in Enugu.

A statement released on the EFCC’s official X handle on Tuesday states that they were charged with three felonies related to allegedly engaging in a land fraud and defrauding others out of N2,750,000.

One of  the charges against the Udeanis read, “That you Udeani Simon Sunday and Udeani Dorcas Amaka, between July 10, 2019 and  December 19, 2019 in Enugu, Enugu State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, with intent to defraud, induced one Onugu Angela Chinyere to deliver to you the sum of N2.7m under the pretence that you would  sell to her a plot of land behind Ebenezer Anglican Church, Ala-Uguaji  along Enugu/Port Harcourt Road, which pretence 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, 2006 and punishable  under section 1 (3) of the  same act.”

The statement further stated that after the pair entered a not guilty plea, the defense attorney, E.C. Nwauba Esq., requested bail and the prosecutor, Nurudeen Ingawa, asked the court to set a trial date.

The case was postponed until February 6, 2024, and Judge Umar granted them bail in the amount of N5 million with one surety in the same amount.

The statement further stated that in a another instance, Johnson Aniekwe was charged with three counts of false pretense, forgery, and impersonation with the intent to gain N9,170,000. Judge Cyprian Ajah of the Enugu State High Court heard the arraignment.

Following Aniekwe’s not-guilty plea, Nurudeen Ingawa, the prosecutor, requested a trial date from the court, and A.G. Anyigo, the defense attorney, pleaded with the judge to grant the defendant bail.

Judge Ajah postponed the case to March 7, 2024, while granting the bail request.