EFCC has brought fraud charges against couple and one additional individual

Simon Udeani and his spouse Dorcas have been charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) Enugu Zonal Command. The charges were brought before Justice M.G. Umar of the Federal High Court located in Enugu.

In an apparent land scam, they were accused of three counts of collecting N2,750,000 under false pretences, according to a statement released on the EFCC’s official X feed on Tuesday.

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“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. Knowing this to be false, you committed an offence that is punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same act.

The statement also stated that after the pair entered a not guilty plea, the defence attorney, E.C. Nwauba Esq., requested bail while 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 pretence, forgery, and impersonation with the intent to obtain 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 defence attorney, begged with the judge to grant the defendant bail.

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