EFCC Charges Two, Firm with Alleged Attempt to Defraud €49 Million with Forged Documents 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, has brought charges against two individuals, Abel Egerton Sokari and Nkiruka Chukwuma, alongside the company Zakah Global Investment Limited, over an alleged attempt to defraud €49 million.

As per the EFCC’s allegations, the defendants sought to illicitly procure €49,000,000 from First Bank of Nigeria through the use of forged documents and deceitful representation of a foreign bank transaction.

The accused were presented before Justice Mojisola Dada at the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, July 7, 2025, facing six counts of charges related to obtaining by false pretenses, possession of fraudulent documents, and forgery.

One of the charges states:

“That you, Abel Egerton Sokari, Nkiruka Chukwuma, Zakah Global Investment Limited, Cheryl Austin Adanti (currently at large), Husain Abid (currently at large), Shazad Muhammed (currently at large), and Ismail Adil (currently at large), on or about the 19th of May 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with the intent to defraud, attempted to acquire Forty-Nine Million Euros (€49,000,000.00) from First Bank of Nigeria by falsely asserting that Bayan Investment Bank and Hedge Fund Statutory Trust had transferred the stated sum into account number 2046430791 belonging to Zakah Global Investment Limited, domiciled at First Bank of Nigeria.”

The Commission further alleged that the defendants were in possession of forged legal documents purportedly associated with a defense attorney of a former U.S. president.

“That you, Abel Egerton Sokari and Nkiruka Chukwuma, sometime in April 2024, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, were in possession of a document containing false pretenses, specifically: a letter allegedly from the law office of Steven H. Sado, P.C., a chief defense attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump, which document you knew to be fraudulent,” they declared.

Sokari and Chukwuma professed their innocence regarding all charges against them. Prosecuting counsel H.U. Kofarnaisa requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody.

Counsel for the first and second defendants, Clement Onwenwnor, SAN, and Laolu Owolabi, SAN, appealed for bail for their clients on the most lenient terms.

They also assured the court of their willingness to take custody of the defendants until bail conditions were met.

Justice Dada granted bail to each defendant in the amount of N500,000, with one surety in the same amount. The defendants were temporarily released to their counsel, with a one-month deadline to fulfill the bail conditions.

The case was adjourned to October 29, 2025, for trial.

Additional Information:

Nairametrics reported that the EFCC, through its Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate, has arraigned Ugochukwu Joseph Nwaemere, Executive Director of Pennhydro-Pell Oil and Gas Limited, before Justice E.A. Obile of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, concerning a N750 million bank fraud involving Polaris Bank.

According to the EFCC, Nwaemere, along with a co-conspirator who remains at large, allegedly approached Polaris Bank in April 2023 for a loan, claiming his company had secured a contract for dredging and stockpiling 100,000 tonnes of sharp sand for the Bodo-Bonny Road Project.

In support of this request, he purportedly presented a forged invoice dated November 29, 2022, allegedly issued and cleared by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc. The EFCC stated that the document was fabricated to persuade the bank of the contract’s authenticity and the company’s attainment of a payment milestone.

Based on the fraudulent document and false assertions, the bank disbursed N750 million to the defendant.

However, subsequent to the disbursement, it was revealed that no such contract existed, and the invoice was not acknowledged by Julius Berger.

The bank’s attempts to recover the funds reportedly failed, leading to a petition and ensuing EFCC investigation.