Fresh revelations have emerged in the trial of an alleged Ponzi scheme operator, Chinedu Roland Okoronkwo, accused of defrauding investors of over N91.5 million using an unlicensed microfinance bank.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed this in a statement shared on its Facebook page on Saturday.
At the resumed hearing on Friday before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Enugu, the ninth prosecution witness, Detective Superintendent of the EFCC, Abubakar A. Abubakar, narrated how Okoronkwo and his company, Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited, allegedly lured unsuspecting victims through false claims of operating a legitimate financial institution.
The anti-graft agency is prosecuting Okoronkwo and his company on 36 counts bordering on forgery, obtaining money by false pretence, and operating banking services without approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to Abubakar, a CBN inquiry confirmed that Reliance Microfinance was never licensed to operate, while a separate letter from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) revealed it was also not insured. Both documents were admitted as exhibits in court.
The witness told the court that Okoronkwo began scouting for victims in church, persuading members to invest in what turned out to be a fraudulent scheme. An analysis of Guaranty Trust Bank account number 0209253844, belonging to the company, showed deposits totalling N69.85 million from victims, while another UBA account received N21.7 million.
“Okoronkwo was the sole signatory to the accounts and used them to collect money from investors under the guise of running a licensed microfinance bank,” Abubakar said.
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The EFCC further alleged that Okoronkwo forged documents, including a fake certificate of registration for Reliance Microfinance, to convince investors of the company’s legitimacy.
One of the charges reads that Okoronkwo obtained N15 million from a petitioner, Francis Okoye Maluze, in 2018 under the pretence that his company was licensed by the CBN and NDIC, a claim investigators later found to be false.
The case traces back to 2019 when Okoye petitioned the EFCC after losing N25 million to the scheme. Over 100 other victims have since come forward, alleging they were also defrauded.
Okoronkwo, who was arraigned in October 2019, pleaded not guilty and has been standing trial since then.
Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo adjourned proceedings to October 14 and 17, 2025 for continuation of trial.