Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State has adjourned the trial of an alleged notorious ponzi scheme operator, Chinedu Roland Okoronkwo, standing trial for N71,580,000.00 (Seventy-One Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira) fraud till October 29, 2024.
 |
| Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) |
Okoronkwo is being prosecuted alongside his company, Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on 36-count charges bordering on carrying out banking businesses without a valid licence, forgery and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N71,580,000.00.
When the matter came up on Thursday, October 10, 2024, counsel to the EFCC, Blessing Obasi presented the Ninth Prosecution Witness, PW9, Abubakar Abubakar Abubakar, an operative of the Commission, who narrated how a petitioner alleged that he was lured into investing N25million in Okoronkwo’s company (Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited) after he was made to believe that he can take back his principal sum after ninety days. After the said duration, the petitioner demanded for his principal sum and interest but was allegedly denied.
In the course of investigations, more than 100 petitioners also alleged that Okoronkwo lured them into investing millions of naira in his company. He was arraigned on October 14, 2019, and pleaded not guilty, setting the stage for his trial.
