The trial of one Ikedinachi Grace Nonyelum, an alleged serial property fraudster commenced on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC presenting its first Prosecution Witness, PW1, Inspector of the EFCC, IE I Aminu Garba Mohammed, an operative of the Commission, who detailed all he knew about the case.
The defendant is being prosecuted by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the EFCC on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N9, 000, 000. 00 (Nine Million Naira).
One of the Counts reads: “That you, Ikedinachi Grace Nonyelum, sometime in February, 2022 at Enugu, Enugu State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, induced one Okechukwu Benson Chiewuzie to give you through Keystone Bank account number 6024270203, the sum of N9, 000, 000. 00 (Nine Million Naira, only) under the pretence that you would sell to him a bungalow house at Ogbeke Nike Enugu, Enugu State, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.
She was arraigned on May 29, 2024 and she pleaded “not guilty”, setting the stage for her trial.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, counsel to the EFCC, Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE I Blessing Ajogwu presented Aminu, who narrated to the court, how the Commission received a petition on November 8, 2022 from one Benson Okechukwu who alleged that Nonyelum lured him into buying a bungalow for the said amount, only to re-sell it to another person. “During the course of investigation, we invited the complainant to come and adopt his petition. We wrote a Letter of Activities to Keystone Bank, requesting for the defendant’s Statement of Account and we received a response from them. While analyzing the statement of account, we discovered that the complainant paid the sum of N1.3million naira into the defendant’s account”, the PW1 said.
The prosecution tendered the statement of the defendant, the petition, the defendant’s Statement of Account and the Certification of Identification through the witness and they were all admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits 1 (1 to 3); 2 (1 to 2) and 3 (1 to 27) respectively.
While analyzing exhibit 3 (1 to 27) which is the defendant’s Statement of Account, the witness said, “On April 19, 2022, the petitioner sent the sum of N500, 000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the defendant. On April 21, 2022, the petitioner sent the sum of N300, 000. 00 (Three Hundred thousand Naira) to the defendant. On September 6, 2022, the petitioner also sent the sum of N500, 000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the defendant through Point of Sale (POS), totaling N1.3mllion. The remaining money, the defendant admitted in her statement that she accepted cash”.
The matter was thereafter adjourned to January 21, 2026 for continuation of trial.
