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Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State has adjourned the trial of an alleged notorious ponzi scheme operator, Chinedu Roland Okoronkwo, standing trial for N71, 580, 000 (Seventy One Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Thousand Naira) fraud till October 29, 2024.
Okoronkwo is being prosecuted alongside his company, Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on 36- count charges bordering on carrying out banking businesses without a valid licence, forgery and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N71, 580, 000.
When the matter came up on Thursday, October 10, 2024, counsel to the EFCC, Blessing Obasi presented the Ninth Prosecution Witness, PW9, Abubakar Abubakar Abubakar, an operative of the Commission, who narrated how a petitioner alleged that he was lured into investing N25million in Okoronkwo’s company (Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited) after he was made to believe that he can take back his principal sum after ninety days. After the said duration, the petitioner demanded for his principal sum and interest but was allegedly denied.
“Upon receipt of the petition, other petitions with similar complaints started flooding in and investigations commenced.
Investigation was extended to the defendant’s accounts at Guaranty Trust Bank and United Bank for Africa. Several responses were gotten and in GTB, he had like 10 accounts and they were analyzed accordingly.
“The analysis revealed that the victims invested their money into the second defendant’s company and the said money was not used for the said investment. He diverted the funds for his personal uses”.