A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an order of interim forfeiture in relation to 46 property including houses and parcels of land suspected to be owned by former Chairperson of the Board of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mrs. Ngozi Juliet Olejeme.

Justice Taiwo granted the order in a ruling on a motion ex-parte, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/538/2020, argued on Tuesday by Ekele Iheanacho, a lawyer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Taiwo ordered the EFCC to publish the order in a national daily to enable anyone who is interested in the affected property to show cause within 14 days why the assets should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

The judge fixed July 27 this ‎year as the return date.

The 46 property, listed in documents filed in court, are said to be located in Abuja, Bayelsa and Delta states.
The EFCC claimed, in a supporting affidavit, that Olejeme acquired the said property with public funds she allegedly diverted while serving in the NSITF between 2009and 2015.

One of the property is identified as N0: 2 Kainji Crescent, off Lake Chad Crescent, Maitama, Abuja (also known as Plot 738 Cadatral Zone AO5, Maitama, Abuja, the which the EFCC claimed she acquired in 2012 at N1.3billion.

The EFCC alleged that Olejeme acquired the property using funds received as kickbacks from contractors, through third parties.

It stated that “During Mrs. Olejeme’s tenure as aforestated, she collected a cumulative sum of USD $48, 485,127.00 from Chuka Eze (her Account Officer in First Bank Plc), Henry Sambo Ekhasomi (the Director of Finance of NSITF), Aliyu Zubairu (Director of Corporate Affairs -NSITF), Adebayo Aderibigbe and Abubakar Umar.

“The said sum of USD $48, 485,127.00 represents the dollar equivalent of kickbacks paid to BDC (bureau de change) by contractors/consultants of NSITF on Mrs. Olejeme’s instructions as well as payments to the BDC operators directly from NSITF account.

“The personal account of Mrs. Olejeme in First Bank Plc also received a total in-flow of N22, 200,000.00 from Hybrid Investment Advisors Ltd, a contractor to NSITF.

“Excellent Solicitors & Consultants is one of the firms engaged by the NSITF as consultant.

“In the course of time, the firm received over N1,000, 000, 000.00 from the NSITF under the guise of rendering consultancy services, its proprietor Max Ozoaka withdrew the monies and either gave same in cash to Mrs. Olejeme or did transfer to her proxies under her instructions.

“Within the same period, the sum of N5, 984,059,110 was paid by NSITF under the guise of consultancy services to Fountain Legal Services and Fountain Media Consults being the firms owned by Adebayo Adebowale Aderibigbe (a staff of NSITF).
“As the said payments were made by the NSITF to his firms’ accounts, Mr. Adebayo Adebowale Aderibigbe gave Mrs. Olejeme a total cash sum of N505,000,000.00 and US$11,488,550.00 in dollars.

“Mrs. Olejeme procured the services of bureau de change operators through Mr. Chuka, who provided the bank accounts of the BDC operators to her.

“Several consultants/contractors to NSITF transferred money to the bank accounts of these BDC operators in naira for Mrs. Olejeme while the dollar equivalent of each naira lodgment would be collected by Mr. Chuka and handed over to Mrs. Olejeme in her house or through bank transfers.

“Mr; Chuka was interviewed on various dates including 23rd August, 2016, 19th December, 2016, 4th April, 2017, 2nd May, 2017, 17th July, 2017 19th December, 2017, 27th December, 2017 and 17th May, 2018 and he consistently narrated the details of the numerous United States dollars he couriered to Mrs. Olejeme as well as other financial dealings he carried out for her.

“The BDC Operators which provided the currency exchange services for Mrs. Olejeme through Mr. Chuka include Majia BDC, Alim BDC and Ashanbrak .BDC.

“In addition to giving the currencies to Mr. Chuka for Mrs. Olejeme, there were occasions where the BDC Operators transferred some of the funds directly to Mrs. Olejeme’s controlled bank accounts.

“For instance Mrs. Olejeme received the sum of N350,000,000.00 from the BDCs into her private company Able Jes Nigeria Ltd’s account in GTBank Plc in two days i.e (29th and 30th April, 2013).

“In fact on 29th April, 2013, only Adamu Musa of Majia BDC made cash deposits into the same account totalling N236,350, 000.00. She (Mrs. Olejeme) is the sole signatory to the said account.

“Mrs. Olejeme used the huge funds referred to in the foregoing paragraphs, which funds did not form part of her lawful income, to acquire property referred to.

“She used third parties in making payments for all the property so as to conceal and or avoid the properties/funds from being easily traced directly to her.

“Mrs. Olejeme hired the services of one Mr. Ifeanyi Njokanma, who is a property manager to purchase and acquire, on her behalf, most of the property,” the EFCC said.

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AWKA – Female lawyers in Anambra State have risen against alleged sexual harassment of girls working in an Onitsha-based company by Chinese expatriates working in same company.

The lawyers wondered why a female employee should be terminated without payment of any benefits for refusing sexual advances.

They alleged that the expatriates always entice the girls, adding that anyone that refuses to yield to their intimidation and harassment would be sacked.

A petition to the police written by the lawyers under the aegis of “Stand Up Women Society” was signed by Adaobinna Edozie and Nkolika Ebede, Chairperson and Secretary respectively.

The petition titled “Cases of Sexual Harassment, Human Rights and Labour Violations by the Expatriate Workers” partly reads: “Termination of one’s appointment without any justification and without payment of any benefits, exposure of the young girl to harsh weather with the attendant health risks, are also serious infringement of her fundamental  rights.

“We seriously view these issues especially the manner and situation in which they occurred as breaches and harassment of the highest order by these expatriates.

“We hereby pray, that you use your good offices to proper investigate into these atrocities and impunity with the aim of bringing the culprits to book.”

The state Commissioner of Police (CP) John Abang, who confirmed receipt of the petition said: “The matter is under investigation.” (News Express)

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EKO HOT BLOG NEWSPaper Trail: How FBI Tracked Hushpuppi, Cohorts Via Their Google, Apple AccountsPublished 10 hours agoon Jul 5, 2020.By Afolabi Hakim FacebookTwitterEmailWhatsAppShare More revelations have begun to emerge concerning the daredevil fraudulent exploits of internet celebrity, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi, and his accomplices. Hushpuppi was arrested in Dubai in June but later extradited to the US following a plethora of criminal activities which he allegedly masterminded.

The internet celebrity has been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in the United States,  he was in court on Friday for commencement of his trial for which he could spend twenty years in prison if convicted.

Following his arrest, many averred that hushpuppi’s flamboyant, opulent lifestyle and his unbridled display of wealth on social media were his undoing and might have contributed significantly to the unravelling of his sharp practices and his subsequent arrest.

But new revelation has shown that there’s more to the uncovering of hushpuppi’s intricate and mind-blowing criminal endeavours than his social media glamour, recent documents from America’s intelligence agency show that painstaking and onerous investigations that involved cracking of encrypted messages were deployed to clip the wing of the cyber carpetbaggers.

According to documents from the office of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which are seen by EkoHotBlog, hushpuppi’s Google and Apple accounts are some of the things that made it easy for the intelligence agency to track him and his Cohorts.

In a document signed by Andrew Innocenti, a special agent of the FBI, three people — Abbas, co-conspirator 1 and co-conspirator 2 — were accused of participating in fraudulent schemes involving hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the FBI, an analysis of the iPhone and online account belonging to co-conspirator 1 showed that messages were exchanged with Hushpuppi, requesting accounts into which funds realised from the money laundering schemes could be sent to. “Based on records from Instagram received in June 2020, the Instagram account was subscribed with the name “RAY,” the email address, [email protected], and the verified phone number +971502818689 (“Phone Number 2”),” the document read. “The Instagram account was created on October 10, 2012, and recent account history from 2020 showed logins from Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses located in the U.A.E.2 (ABBAS lives in the U.A.E., based on information from his email and social media accounts, financial records, and internet research). “Based on subscriber records from Snap Inc., the Snapchat account “Hushpuppi5” used the phone number +971565505984 (“Phone Number 3”) and the email address [email protected] (i.e., the same email as the Instagram account). “The Snapchat account used the display name “The Billionaire Gucci Master!!!,” which was the same Snapchat contact name saved in Coconspirator 1’s phone for the Snapchat account “Hushpuppi5.” The document also gave details of records from Apple Inc., as well as his Gmail account, which showed invoices, tenancy contract, flight itinerary, Dubai visa, a Nigerian passport, among other documents all directly linked to Abbas. Details of a conversation between the suspects were also divulged.

“On February 12, 2019, Co-conspirator 1 told ABBAS: “Wire is completed… We did it [500k euros]… Should be on ur side by now.” In the ensuing conversation, Co-conspirator 1 reportedly told Abbas that there was only one wire to the account in Romania. “Sender name : tipico group limited. Country : [Foreign Financial Institution Country] Amount : 500k euro… “It’s there now my other crew confirmed it’s there as well.” Later, while trying to confirm whether the wire was successful, co-conspirator 1 was said to have added: “They did me 3 wires (2 to euro 1 to USA)… Bank it came from is :[Foreign Financial Institution]. The document added that the sender wrote: “Brother, we still have access and they didn’t realize, we gonna shoot again tomoro am.”

The criminal complaint filed against Abbas is published here

The Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) also known as Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, has said it lost more than 8,370 members, including eight Pastors, to the Boko Haram Insurgency in the North East.

EYN President, Joel Billi, who gave the statistics on Thursday, at the World News Conference, organised by the Dominion, in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, said 25,000 members of the Church were currently taking refuge in neighbouring Cameroun, while more than 700,000 were in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

Mr Billi said the purpose of the news conference was to review and highlight the effects of insurgency and the state of the nation, on the Church’s activities.

The president regretted that the activities of the terrorists had affected more than 1.5 million members, and caused huge damages to the denomination’s places of worship in the North East region.

“It could be recalled that EYN has lost over 8,370 members and eight pastors with the numbers increasing on a daily basis.

“Over 700,000 members are displaced and about 25, 000 are currently taking refuge in Cameroon and Chad Republics.

“About 300 of the 586 churches have been either burnt or destroyed with an uncountable number of houses belonging to our members looted or burnt too,” Mr Billi said.

He further explained that only seven, out of the 60 District Church Councils, were not directly affected by the insurgency.

On abduction, he stated that many of their members were abducted by the insurgents, with 217 out of the abducted 276 Chibok school girls belonging to the EYN.

He said the EYN is the single Christian Denomination that is worse hit by activities of the Boko Haram terrorists.

On the fight against the insurgency, the EYN president commended the renewed zeal by the military and other security agents, in tackling the menace.

He however, called on the federal government and the state governments of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to, as a matter of urgency, rescue the remaining abducted Chibok school girls and reunite them safely with their families.

“I also call with a loud voice, on the federal government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, to rescue Leah Sharibu, Alice Loksha, and hundreds of others abducted by the Boko Haram,” he stated.

He lamented that there were still several villages and communities that had been deserted by their inhabitants due to continuous attacks by Boko Haram.

Mr Billi also urged the president to, as a matter of urgency, deploy at least a Battalion of military to the deserted areas behind the Gwoza Hills, to ensure the speedy return of the IDPs to their ancestral land.

“Government should immediately reconstruct and rehabilitate all houses, schools and worship places, destroyed by the insurgents in the deserted villages, through the Northeast Development Commission.

“Government should also deploy more security personnel to volatile areas to mitigate further attacks.

“The federal government should equally marshal out plans to evacuate the over 47,000 Nigerian refugees in Cameroonian Camps, back to their ancestral homes, by the end of 2020,” he said.

Mr Billi urged further urged the government to live up to its constitutional responsibility by putting a stop to the continuous killings, abductions, rape and all forms of criminality across the country.

He also called the attention of the government to activities of tribal militia, armed bandits and kidnappers terrorising Nigerian communities.

On the state of the nation, Mr Billi commended the federal government and the Presidential Task Force (PTF), on (COVID-19), for the proactive measures they had been taking in fighting the pandemic.

“We salute our front line health workers for putting their lives on the line for the generality of Nigerians.

“We sympathise with families who lost their loved ones, as a result of this global pandemic, and call on all Nigerians to adhere to safety protocols and guidelines so that the disease will be defeated” Mr Billi added

▪︎ Report by NAN

Cross Rivers State Governor, Ben Ayade, has appointed one Edet Okon Asim, who was alleged to have raped a 12-year-old-girl, into his cabinet as Special Adviser on Biodiversity.

Asim was said to have been arrested by police in 2019 for raping and impregnating a 12-year old girl and also damaged her womb after series of abortions.

He allegedly warned and threatened the girl not to reveal the crime until the girl started developing repeated belly aches.

Asim was supposed to have been jailed for the said offence but manipulated the judicial process because of his political influence and connections, the source claimed.

The mother of the girl, Sarah Noah, was also said to have been having affair with Asim.

Findings also revealed that Asim has been dropped as United Nations Ambassador as a result of the rape allegation.

A source, who spoke to SaharaReporters about the incident, said, “He has been dropped as UN Ambassador and he cannot come out to represent cases or advocate for issues concerning women.

“The governor has questions to answer on whether or not he is aware this man is an offender, an accused or alleged offender. Appointing Asim is encouraging rape in the state. ”

It will be recalled that many interest groups in the state had also condemned the appointment of Asim.

“By allowing an alleged offender or somebody who has been accused of rape to serve in your cabinet, it also shows that you are encouraging rape to thrive,” the source added.

Meanwhile, there have been calls for the arrest and prosecution of the mother of the girl. She was alleged to have offered her to the man as a sex slave while also having an affair with the Asim.

The Spokesperson for the Cross River State Police Command, Irene Ugbo, could not be reached for comments.

Source: SAHARAREPORTERS

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has appointed Justice Henry Olusiyi as acting Chief Judge (CJ) of the state.

The development is coming on the heels of the demise of Justice Nasir Ajanah, who until his death last Sunday was the Kogi State Chief Judge.

The government further approved the appointment of Justice Bayo Olowosegun, to perform the functions of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Kogi State.

A statement issued on Friday by the governor’s spokesman, Onogwu Mohammed added that both appointments is for a period of three months.

The statement read: “Kogi State Governor, His Excellency, Yahaya Bello has approved the appointment of Justice Henry A.Olusiyi to perform the functions of the Chief judge of the State.

“Similarly, the governor approved the appointment of Justice Bayo Olowosegun to perform the functions of the President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Kogi State.

“These appointments followed the demise of Justices Nasir Ajanah and Shaibu Atadoga respectively.”

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Ramon Igbalode popularly known as Hushpuppi faces the possibility of spending 20 years of his life in a US prison if found guilty of the fraud allegations levelled against him.

Information obtained from the website of the Department of Justice of the United States revealed that the charges against Hushpuppi range from laundering hundreds of millions of dollars from business email compromise (BEC) frauds and other scams, including schemes targeting a U.S. law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League soccer club.

Read the full statement below

“Nigerian National Brought to U.S. to Face Charges of Conspiring to Launder Hundreds of Millions of Dollars from Cybercrime Schemes
COMPLAINT

LOS ANGELES – A Dubai resident who flaunted his extravagant lifestyle on social media has arrived in the United States to face criminal charges alleging he conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from business email compromise (BEC) frauds and other scams, including schemes targeting a U.S. law firm, a foreign bank and an English Premier League soccer club.

Ramon Olorunwa Abbas, 37, a.k.a. “Ray Hushpuppi” and “Hush,” a Nigerian national, arrived in Chicago Thursday evening after being expelled from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Abbas made his initial U.S. court appearance this morning in Chicago, and he is expected to be transferred to Los Angeles in the coming weeks.

Abbas was arrested last month by UAE law enforcement officials. FBI special agents earlier this week obtained custody of Abbas and brought him to the United States to face a charge of conspiring to engage in money laundering that is alleged in a criminal complaint filed on June 25 by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Abbas maintains social media accounts that frequently showed him in designer clothes, wearing expensive watches, and posing in or with luxury cars and charter jets. “The FBI’s investigation has revealed that Abbas finances this opulent lifestyle through crime, and that he is one of the leaders of a transnational network that facilitates computer intrusions, fraudulent schemes (including BEC schemes), and money laundering, targeting victims around the world in schemes designed to steal hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the affidavit.

The affidavit describes BEC schemes as often involving a computer hacker gaining unauthorized access to a business’ email account, blocking or redirecting communications to and/or from that email account, and then using the compromised email account or a separate fraudulent email account to communicate with personnel from a victim company and to attempt to trick them into making an unauthorized wire transfer.

“BEC schemes are one of the most difficult cybercrimes we encounter as they typically involve a coordinated group of con artists scattered around the world who have experience with computer hacking and exploiting the international financial system,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “This case targets a key player in a large, transnational conspiracy who was living an opulent lifestyle in another country while allegedly providing safe havens for stolen money around the world. As this case demonstrates, my office will continue to hold such criminals accountable, no matter where they live.”

“In 2019 alone, the FBI recorded $1.7 billion in losses by companies and individuals victimized through business email compromise scams, the type of scheme Mr. Abbas is charged with conducting from abroad,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “While this arrest has effectively taken a major alleged BEC player offline, BEC scams represent the most financially costly type of scheme reported to the FBI. I urge anyone who transfers funds personally or on behalf of a company to educate themselves about BEC so they can identify this insidious scheme before losing sizable amounts of money.”

“This was a challenging case, one that spanned international boundaries, traditional financial systems and the digital sphere,” said Jesse Baker, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service, Los Angles Field Office. “Technology has essentially erased geographic boundaries leaving trans-national criminal syndicates to believe that they are beyond the reach of law enforcement. The success in this case was the direct result of our trusted partnerships between the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement colleagues. These partnerships helped dismantle a sophisticated organized crime group who preyed upon unsuspecting businesses. It is thanks to these partnerships that the American people can feel a bit more secure today.”

The affidavit alleges that Abbas and others committed a BEC scheme that defrauded a client of a New York-based law firm out of approximately $922,857 in October 2019. Abbas and co-conspirators allegedly tricked one of the law firm’s paralegals into wiring money intended for the client’s real estate refinancing to a bank account that was controlled by Abbas and the co-conspirators.

The affidavit also alleges that Abbas conspired to launder funds stolen in a $14.7 million cyber-heist from a foreign financial institution in February 2019, in which the stolen money was sent to bank accounts around the world. Abbas allegedly provided a co-conspirator with two bank accounts in Europe that Abbas anticipated each would receive €5 million (about $5.6 million) of the fraudulently obtained funds.

Abbas and others further conspired to launder hundreds of millions of dollars from other fraudulent schemes and computer intrusions, including one scheme to steal £100 million (approximately $124 million) from an English Premier League soccer club, the complaint alleges.

A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

READ ALSO: Dubai Police hands over Hushpuppi to FBI in US
If convicted of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, Abbas would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

The FBI led the investigation of Abbas, and the United States Secret Service was also involved and provided substantial assistance. The FBI further thanks the government of the United Arab Emirates and the Dubai Police Department for their substantial assistance.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anil J. Antony and Joseph B. Woodring of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in this matter.”

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