EFCC arraigns oil magnate, firm, over alleged N691.7m fraud in Abuja

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Musa Farouk Abubakar, an Abuja-based oil magnate, alongside his company, Abu-Haneefa Oil and Gas Limited, and Sandra Chizoba Attoh, an associate, over an alleged N691.7 million fraud and money laundering scheme.

The defendants were brought before Obiora Egwuatu, a Justice of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday on amended 15 charge bordering on conspiracy, corruption and money laundering.

According to the anti-graft agency, the alleged offences involved the laundering of proceeds suspected to have been derived from corrupt activities amounting to N691,677,310.

One of the charges alleged that Abubakar, as Managing Director of Abu-Haneefa Oil and Gas Limited, transferred N297 million from the company’s Zenith Bank account to an Access Bank account belonging to Attoh on July 21, 2025, despite allegedly knowing that the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities.

The EFCC further accused Abubakar of directing Attoh to transfer N262.9 million from her account to a Taj Bank account belonging to Mshell Homes Limited for the purchase of a property located at Kapital Villa in Guzape, Abuja.

Prosecutors maintained that the transactions constituted money laundering offences under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

When the charges were read, all the defendants pleaded not guilty.

Following their pleas, Rita Ogar, EFCC counsel, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending trial.

Ishaka Dikko, Counsel to Abubakar and his company, informed the court that a bail application had already been filed on behalf of the first defendant and requested that his client be remanded in EFCC custody pending determination of the application.

Similarly, counsel to Attoh, Y.G. Haruna , disclosed that a bail application had also been filed for the third defendant.

Opposing the applications, the prosecution argued that it possessed overwhelming evidence against the defendants and had filed detailed counter-affidavits challenging their requests for bail.

After hearing both parties, Egwuatu ordered that Abubakar be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre pending further proceedings and a response by his counsel to the prosecution’s counter-affidavit.

The judge, however, granted bail to Attoh in the sum of N200 million with two sureties in like sum.

He ruled that the sureties must be Abuja residents, property owners, provide passport photographs and acceptable means of identification.

One of the sureties must also be a civil servant not below Grade Level 15 and must submit evidence of appointment and promotion to the court.

The case was adjourned until September 1 and 2, 2026, for trial.

Similarly, the planned arraignment of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and four other defendants over an alleged N4.29 billion foreign exchange fraud was stalled on Wednesday after the accused persons failed to appear before a Lagos court.

The defendants, including UBA, Muyiwa Akinyemi, Amangbo Eziashi Stephen, Geeos Global Service Limited and Fedat Global Limited, were scheduled to be arraigned before Rahman Oshodi, Justice of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja.

The EFCC had filed a four-count charge against them, accusing them of foreign exchange infractions, concealment of proceeds of unlawful activities, retention of criminal proceeds and money laundering involving N4.29 billion.

According to the charge, the defendants allegedly conspired between September 2022 and March 2023 to sell foreign exchange above rates prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The anti-graft agency further alleged that they concealed N4.29 billion in a UBA account, claiming the funds were proceeds of illegal activities.

At Wednesday’s proceedings, EFCC prosecutor T.J. Banjo informed the court that all defendants had been duly served with court processes and that affidavits of service had already been filed.

Banjo described the defendants’ failure to appear as another attempt to frustrate the prosecution and disclosed that efforts had been made to arrest two of the individual defendants after they allegedly jumped administrative bail granted by the commission.

However, counsel to UBA and two of the individual defendants, Adewale Kamourudeen, disputed the prosecution’s claims.

He argued that his clients had not been personally served with the information or hearing notices and only became aware of the charges through media reports.

“The first, second and third defendants have not been served with the information or hearing notice. We got wind of it through newspaper reports,” he told the court.

The prosecution rejected the claim, insisting that service was properly effected through Chima Okugbo, UBA’s Compliance Officer, who had reportedly represented the bank throughout the investigation and accepted service on behalf of the bank and the individual defendants.

When Oshodi asked the defence counsel if he would accept service on behalf of his clients, he declined, saying he lacked the necessary instructions.

The judge subsequently adjourned the matter until June 16, 2026, for a report on service, arraignment and further proceedings.

In a related development, a Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri has sentenced a man, Bukar Ahmed Shuwa,
to 10 years imprisonment for defrauding an investor of N2.95 million through a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme.

Aisha Kumaliya (Justice), handed down the sentence on Wednesday after Shuwa pleaded guilty to a one-count amended charge filed by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.

According to the charge, the convict fraudulently induced one Mahmud Ali to invest N2.95 million in what he described as a Crypto Bitget Wallet Coin investment opportunity.

The EFCC told the court that the investment proposal was fraudulent and that the funds were diverted for personal use.

Upon arraignment, Shuwa admitted to the offence.

Following the guilty plea, prosecution counsel A.D. Abdulmalik urged the court to convict the defendant accordingly.

Defence counsel H. Basharu appealed for leniency, informing the court that the convict had fully refunded the money to the victim and requesting the court to impose a fine instead of a custodial sentence.

In her judgment, Kumaliya convicted Shuwa and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment with an option of a N200,000 fine.