EFCC Arraigns Suspected Fraudster for N10.5m Contract Scam
Adetokunbo Fakeye
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday arraigned one Lebechi Chinedu before Justice B.O Quadri of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt on a 2-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence.
The accused allegedly collected N10, 500, 000 (Ten Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) from one Samuel Johnson in a phony contract deal.
The alleged sum was a contract fee for the construction of a block of six classrooms at Etche Local Government Council of Rivers State.
According to Samuel, the accused posing as Supervisor for Works in the council claimed he could facilitate the award of the purported contract which later turned out a ruse.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him.
In view of his plea, the defence counsel, J. C Okowafor, in an oral application, urged the court to admit his client to bail.
The judge however ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody till May 16, 2014 for hearing of his bail application.
Count one of the charge reads, “that you Lebechi Chinedu alias John Njoku and others now at large between March 2013 and March 2014 at Port Harcourt within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, obtained the total sum of N10,500,000 (Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira) from one Samuel Johnson under the pretence that the money was a fee for the award of a contract for the construction of a six classroom block at Etche Local Government Council of Rivers State, a pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1 (1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and Punishable Under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.