Court Case Over N4.29bn Forex Fraud Delayed Again as Defendants Fail to Show Up

The arraignment of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and four others over an alleged N4.29 billion foreign exchange fraud was delayed again on Wednesday at the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja. None of the defendants showed up in court for the scheduled trial.

This is the second time the defendants have missed court for their trial. The case was first brought to court in April 2025, but it could not proceed then due to arguments over service and the absence of everyone involved.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is handling the case under Judge Rahman Oshodi. They are charging the defendants on four counts, including forex racketeering, conspiracy, hiding the proceeds of illegal activities, keeping criminal proceeds, and money laundering.

The defendants in this case are United Bank for Africa (UBA), Muyiwa Akinyemi, Amangbo Eziashi Stephen, Geeos Global Service Limited, and Fedat Global Limited.

One of the charges claims that between 14 September 2022 and 20 March 2023 in Lagos, the defendants worked together to sell foreign exchange at prices higher than those set by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Another charge states that in September 2022, they hid N4.3 billion in a UBA account, which was believed to have come from illegal activities.

When the case was called, EFCC lawyer T. J. Banjo announced he was representing the prosecution. Adewale Kamourudeen represented the first, second, and third defendants, while I. S. Hassan acted for the fourth defendant. The fifth defendant did not have a lawyer present.

During the proceedings, Mr Banjo informed the court that the case was set for a report on service and arraignment. He told the judge that all defendants had received the charge and other documents, and that affidavits of service had already been filed.

The absence of the defendants upset the prosecution. They described it as another attempt to delay the start of the trial. Mr Banjo also mentioned that attempts had been made to arrest the second and third defendants after they skipped administrative bail earlier granted by the commission.

In response, Mr Kamourudeen argued that his clients did not receive any charge or notice for the hearing. He said they only found out about the court date through news reports.

“The first, second and third defendants have not been served with the information or the hearing notice for today’s proceedings or the previous adjourned date. We got wind of it through newspaper reports. That is why we are here,” he said.

He asked the court to let him see the case file to check the proof of service that the prosecution was using. But Mr Banjo insisted that service had been done through UBA’s compliance officer, Chima Okugbo, who received the court documents for the bank and its officials, Messrs Akinyemi and Stephen.

He explained that the same officer had also worked with investigators during the EFCC’s inquiry into the case. When Mr Oshodi asked the defence lawyer if he was ready to accept service in court for his clients, Mr Kamourudeen refused, saying he had no instructions to do that.

With no agreement on service and none of the defendants in court to plead, Mr Oshodi postponed the case until 16 June for a report on service, arraignment, and further proceedings.