The EFCC has arraigned one Jules Suinner before a Lagos Federal High Court on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence to the tune of N37million.
A statement issued by Mr Wilson Uwujaren, Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC on Tuesday in Abuja, said that Suinner and his collaborators allegedly hijacked the email address and letterhead of a company named Greenview Development Nigeria Limited.
He said that they used the letterhead to write to a first generation bank to transfer the sum of N25 million to the account of ICT Aid Foundation Cooperative Society domiciled in another bank.
The money, Uwajaren said in the statement, was allegedly transferred on July 14, 2015.
He added that the suspected fraudsters, on July 22, 2015, allegedly wrote to Access Bank to transfer the sum of N12 million to the account of one Tee-EM Nigeria Limited domiciled with UBA.
He added that the suspects, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.
According to Uwajaren, the court ordered the suspects to be remanded in prison custody and adjourned to case to Sept. 14, for the commencement of trial.
He further added that Idorenyin Okon, Usen Akpan and Ukpai Onyike had also been arraigned before the court on a four-count charge.
The charges, the EFCC spokesman said, bordered on impersonation and conspiracy to obtain money under false pretence to the tune of N18 million.
He added that the suspects allegedly defrauded different customers of a bank to the tune of over N18 million over a period of two years.
According to Uwajaren, they were arrested at a Union Bank branch in Ibadan, while in the process of obtaining an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card of another unsuspecting customer of the bank.
He said that one of the charge against the accused was that they conspired with Timothy Akpan who was still at large, to fraudulently impersonate Esto Funmi Emmanuel.
The suspects, he further said, pleaded not guilty to the charges while their counsel pleaded with the court to grant them bail.
“However, prosecution counsel E.E. Iheanacho, opposed the bail applications.
“After listening to both parties, Justice Kuewumi ordered that the suspects be remanded in prison custody’’ Uwajaren said in the statement.
According to him, the case has been adjourned to Sept. 14, for hearing of the bail applications. (NAN)