The Federal High Court in Enugu on Friday heard how Chinedu Okoronkwo, alleged operator of a Ponzi scheme, diverted over N91.5 million from investors using a fictitious microfinance bank.
Okoronkwo and his firm, Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited, are facing a 36-count charge before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo, including forgery, obtaining money by false pretence, and operating financial services without a valid licence. The case is being prosecuted by the Enugu Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Testifying as the ninth prosecution witness, EFCC operative Abubakar Abubakar told the court that the company was neither licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nor insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). Letters from both institutions, admitted as exhibits, confirmed the firm’s lack of regulatory approval.
According to Abubakar, Okoronkwo used falsified documents and church connections to win the trust of unsuspecting investors. Bank records showed Reliance Microfinance received N69.85 million through its Guaranty Trust Bank account and another N21.7 million via United Bank for Africa.
The EFCC said Okoronkwo was the sole signatory to the accounts, giving him total control over the funds. One of the charges accused him of fraudulently obtaining N15 million from a victim, Francis Okoye Maluze, in 2018 under the guise that his firm was fully licensed and insured.
The trial continues.
