Track of Frauds in Nigeria

Emmanuel Nwude Odinigwe popularly known as Owelle of Abagana is a Nigerian advance-fee fraud expert artist and former Director of Union Bank of Nigeria. He is known for defrauding Nelson Sakaguchi, a Director at Brazil's Banco Noroeste based in Sao Paulo, of $242 million ($191 million in cash and the remainder in the form of outstanding interest) between 1995 and 1998. His accomplices were Emmanuel Ofolue, Nzeribe Okoli, and Obum Osakwe, along with the husband and wife duo, Christian Ikechukwu Anajemba and Amaka Anajemba, with Christian later being assassinated.

Emmanuel Nwude impersonated Paul Ogwuma, the then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and successfully convinced Sakaguchi, a then director at Brazil's Banco Noroeste, to "invest" in a new airport in the nation's capital, Abuja, in exchange for a $10million commission.

In August 1997, the Spanish Banco Santander wanted to take over the Banco Noroeste Brazil. The fraud was uncovered after a December 1997 joint board meeting, in which an official from Santander inquired about why a large sum of money, two-fifths of Noroeste's total value and half of their capital, was sitting in the Cayman Islands unmonitored.

This led to criminal investigations in Brazil, Britain, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United States. To guarantee the sale to Santander, the Simonsen and Cochrane families, the owners of Banco Noroeste, paid the $242million bill themselves. However, Banco Noroeste collapsed in 2001.

As for Nelson Sakaguchi, he was later arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy airport and dispatched to Switzerland, to stand trial on charges relating to setting up bank accounts there as part of the fraud.

Back here in Nigeria, at the request of the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was created by the Nigerian Parliament in 2002. In February 2004, Amaka Anajemba, Emmanuel Nwude, Emmanuel Ofolue and Nzeribe Okoli were all arrested and charged in the Abuja High Court with 86 counts of "fraudulently seeking advance fees" and 15 counts of bribery related to the case, but at this time, Obum Osakwe (Christian Anajemba) was deceased at. 

They pleaded not guilty. They were immediately warned off of bribing the court staff by Abuja High Court in person of Judge Lawal Gumi, after he alleged that money was going around.

But, nothing could be done to bring scandal to the administration of justice." Four Nigerian companies, Fynbaz, Emrus, Ocean Marketing and the African Shelter Bureau also faced charges and pleaded not guilty. In July 2004, Judge Lawal Gumi threw out the case, claiming that since the crime did not take place in Abuja, he had no jurisdiction, and said that the proper place for the case would be the Lagos High Court.

In 2005, Nwude attempted to bribe Nuhu Ribadu, then head of the commission, with $75,000 cash. He was charged in connection with the attempted bribery in addition to the attempted kidnapping of a prosecution witness.

During Nwude's trial, there was a bomb scare that caused the courthouse to be evacuated. Emmanuel Nwude and Nzeribe Okoli pleaded guilty after testimony from Sakaguchi in hopes of a more lenient sentence, and were sentenced to 29 years in prison collectively, with Nwude receiving five consecutive sentences of five years, totaling 25, and Okoli receiving four. The entirety of Nwude's assets were confiscated to be returned to the victim and a $10million fine was imposed to be paid to the Nigerian federal government. It was the first major conviction for the EFCC. He was released from prison in 2006.

Nwude filed a lawsuit to recover his seized assets after he was released from prison, on the grounds that some of the assets were acquired before the offense was committed.

On August 19, 2016, the town of Ukpo in the Dunukofia area was attacked over a land dispute with the neighboring Abagana community. It was recorded that four policemen were shot, and Emmanuel Okafor, a security guard at a construction site, was killed. The Anambra State Police Command alleged that Emmanuel Nwude was a ringleader, and arrested him on 27 charges including murder, attempted murder, and terrorist attacks. He was being held at Awka Prison in Anambra State, but was released on bail on December 8, 2016.

On Thursday 25 February 2021, Emmanuel Nwude, while testifying before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Ikeja Special Offences Court, denied knowing the source of the $242m that was transferred into his account. Mr. Nwude, is back in court alongside two lawyers – Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Roland Kalu.

All three face a 15-count charge of forging the documents of a property Justice Oyewole had earlier ordered Mr. Nwude to forfeit to his victims.