EFCC Charges Enugu Lawyer in ₦12 Million Land Fraud Case

Benjamin Nwobodo has been brought before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly committing a ₦12 million land fraud in Enugu State.
According to reports, Barrister Nwobodo was charged with five counts that bordered on forgery and obtaining by pretense by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the EFCC before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court located in Independence Layout, Enugu State.
The third count of the charge states: “That on January 15, 2014, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, you, Benjamin Chukwuemeka Nwobodo, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Nine Million Naira only (₦9,000,000.00) from one Wilson Ikeani Igwe under the false pretense of selling him three plots of land situated at Emene, Enugu State, a pretense you knew to be false and thereby committed an offense punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offenses Act, 2006.
“That on December 15, 2014, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, you, Benjamin Chukwuemeka Nwobodo, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of Three Million Naira only (₦3,000,000.00) from one Wilson Ikeani Igwe under the false pretense of selling one plot of land situated at Emene, Enugu State to him, a pretense you knew to be false and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 1 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.” This was count four of the charge.

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After being read the charges, the defendant entered a not guilty plea.

In light of his plea, EFCC Chief Superintendent Chikezie Raymond Edozie, the agency’s attorney, asked the court to set a trial date and confine the defendant to the Enugu State Correctional Facility.

Nevertheless, the defendant, who said that he would be represented by counsel, applied orally for bail, which the court granted on the following conditions.

Two sureties in the amount of ₦25 million Naira are required under the bail terms, and one of them needs to own a landed property in the city of Enugu.

The other surety needs to be a blood relative and provide the court with three years of tax clearance.

Within seven working days of receiving the sureties’ information, the EFCC is required to confirm the sureties’ identities and residences, and both must depose and submit an affidavit of means.
Additionally, the defendant must turn in his international passport to the Deputy Court Registrar.

Based on self-recognizance, the court then allowed the defendant to return home, but it gave him ten (10) days to fulfill the terms of his bail or else the EFCC would arrest him and send him to a correctional facility.

The trial was postponed to May 13 and 14, 2025.