The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Barrister Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo before Justice E. N. Oluedo of the Enugu State High Court for fraud.
Okonkwo faces a one-count charge of stealing by conversion amounting to N41 million. According to the EFCC, the offence occurred on November 23, 2015, when Okonkwo allegedly fraudulently converted N41 million that he had received from Onyishi Maduka Samuel. The money was meant for the family of the late Ifemelunma Okoye, for whom Okonkwo was acting as liquidator of Ifemelunma and Company Enterprises Limited.
The charge reads: “That you, Ifeanyichukwu Okonkwo on or about the 23rd day of November 2015 in Enugu, fraudulently converted to your own use the sum of Forty-one Million Naira (N41,000,000), received from one Onyishi Maduka Samuel for the family of late Ifemelunma Okoye.”
Okonkwo pleaded “not guilty” when the charge was read to him. Following this, the prosecution counsel, Ajobiewe Enitan, requested a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded in a correctional facility. Okonkwo, who represented himself in court, requested that he be allowed to continue on the bail previously granted by Justice H. O. Eya of the same court on the same matter.
Justice Oluedo granted Okonkwo’s request to continue on bail and adjourned the trial to May 13, 14, and 15, 2025. Okonkwo had initially been arraigned before Justice Eya on June 23, 2022, where he pleaded “not guilty” and was granted bail