The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Enugu Zonal Directorate, has arraigned two bank employees, Ekpe Anayaoha Okoronkwo and Umeonuoha Onyinye, over allegations of currency racketeering amounting to ₦500,000.
The duo appeared before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Independence Layout, Enugu, on Thursday, December 12, 2024.
According to the EFCC, the defendants were accused of selling newly-minted ₦500,000 in ₦200 denominations, issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to one Husseini Ibrahim.
The charge reads:
"That you, Ekpe Anayaoha Okoronkwo and Umeonuoha Onyinye, sometime in October 2024, in Enugu State, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, did sell a total sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦500,000) mints in Two Hundred Naira Notes (₦200), issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21 (4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, and punishable under Section 21 (1) of the same Act."
During the court hearing:
- Ekpe Anayaoha Okoronkwo (the first defendant) pleaded guilty to the charge.
- Umeonuoha Onyinye (the second defendant), however, pleaded not guilty.
EFCC counsel, Chief Superintendent Rotimi Ajobiewe, requested the court to fix a date to review the facts of Okoronkwo’s case for sentencing. For Onyinye, Ajobiewe urged the court to set a trial date to enable the prosecution to present its evidence.
Counsel to the second defendant, C. N. Agama, appealed for Onyinye to be remanded in EFCC custody pending the hearing of her bail application.
Justice Umar adjourned the matter to January 15, 2025, for Onyinye’s bail hearing and for the sentencing of Okoronkwo. The defendants were remanded at the Enugu State Correctional Facility.
The EFCC confirmed that the defendants were apprehended on November 15, 2024, at their workplace on 18 Okpara Avenue, Enugu, following credible intelligence linking them to the illegal sale of Naira mints. Preliminary investigations revealed that they sold the freshly-printed ₦500,000 in ₦200 notes to a buyer in Enugu metropolis.
