By Emamuzo Iboma
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Monday, arraigned Abel Egerton Sokari, Nkiruka Chukwuma, and a company, Zakah Global Investment Limited, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on a six-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence, possession of fraudulent documents, and forgery involving Forty-Nine Million Euros (€49,000,000).
One of the charges alleged that Abel Egerton Sokari, Nkiruka Chukwuma, Zakah Global Investment Limited, along with Cheryl Austin Adanti, Husain Abid, Shazad Muhammed, and Ismail Adil—who are all at large—attempted to obtain €49,000,000 from First Bank of Nigeria on May 19, 2025, by falsely claiming that Bayan Investment Bank and Hedge Fund Statutory Trust had transferred the sum into Zakah Global Investment Limited’s account number 2046430791 domiciled with the bank.
Another count stated that Sokari and Chukwuma were found in April 2024 in possession of a document containing false pretences, specifically a letter purportedly from the law office of Steven H. Sado, P.C., a lead defence attorney for U.S. President Donald Trump, which they allegedly knew to be false.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges when read to them in court.
Following their pleas, prosecution counsel H.U. Kofarnaisa requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody pending the commencement of trial.
