EFCC arraigns former P-Square manager, Jude Okoye, over alleged ₦1.3bn fraud
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Jude Okoye, the former manager and elder brother of Paul and Peter Okoye of the defunct music group P-Square, over alleged money laundering involving ₦1.38 billion, $1 million and £34,537.59.
Okoye and his company, Northside Music Ltd, appeared before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Lagos on a seven-count charge related to financial crimes.
One of the charges states that in 2022, Okoye and Northside Music Ltd purchased a property worth ₦850 million at No. 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, knowing or reasonably suspecting the funds were proceeds of an unlawful act.
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Another charge alleges “That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did indirectly using bureau de change convert the sum of $1,019,762.87 (One million nineteen thousand, seven hundred and six-two dollars eighty-seven cents), domiciled in Access Bank Plc operated by Northside Music Lid to the naira equivalent and remitted into various bank accounts with the intention of concealing that the said fund form part of the proceeds of an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2)(a) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
Okoye pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Following his plea, EFCC prosecutor Larry Aso requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending trial.
However, Okoye’s lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, applied for bail and requested that his client remain in EFCC custody instead. The prosecution objected, arguing that the EFCC’s detention centre was overcrowded.
Justice Owoeye adjourned the bail hearing to February 28 and the trial to April 14, ordering that Okoye be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility until his bail application is heard.
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