The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has set its sights on a Rivers State couple, Emmanuel Dike and Ugochi Eziaku Dike, as they face charges in an alleged N500 million investment fraud.
The couple, alongside their company, Dike & Phil Associates Ltd, was arraigned on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC. The charges include conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence, and criminal conversion of funds to personal use.
According to one of the charges, the couple, along with others still at large, purportedly defrauded Captain Chukwuemeka Stanley Ikeri and his company, Clipboard Office Superstores Limited, of N500 million between August 24, 2020, and February 15, 2021. The funds were allegedly obtained under the pretense of being invested to yield a 10% interest, a promise the defendants are accused of knowing to be false.
During the arraignment, Emmanuel Dike and Ugochi Eziaku Dike pleaded not guilty to the charges. Prosecution counsel Dr. B. Ubi requested a trial date, and defense counsel J. C. Okeke sought bail for the defendants to adequately prepare for the trial.’
Justice Ajoku granted the defendants bail in the sum of N1,000,000.00 each, with two sureties in like sum. The sureties, who must be civil or public servants with the Rivers State or Federal Government of Nigeria, should be on grade level 12 and above.
They are required to deposit two recent passport photographs with the court registry, they must possess a Certificate of Occupancy, and be residents of Port Harcourt. Additionally, the sureties must provide official letters of identification from the heads of their departments.
The prosecution is tasked with verifying the sureties within 48 hours and reporting certified true copies of letters from the heads of their departments to the court. Pending the perfection of their bail conditions, the defendants were remanded in the Port Harcourt Correctional Service. The trial is scheduled to commence on January 30, 2024.
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