Two brothers, Ajim Kerison Onubuogu and Ajim Tochukwu Christian were recently arraigned and remanded in Enugu Correctional facility for allegedly defrauding Chebet Chumba, an American, the sums of Forty-Three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fifty United States Dollars ($43, 850) and Eighteen Million, Six Hundred and Seventy-Five Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty-three Naira, Seventy-five Kobo (N18, 675, 133. 75) respectively.
The brothers were arraigned by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, November 28, 2024, before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu State on four-count charges; criminal personation, obtaining by false pretense, money laundering and possession of proceeds of crime.
In a statement released by the Commission, while Ajim Kerison impersonated a resident of Atlanta through a fake Facebook account, his brother Ajim Christian through his Opay Digital Service Ltd account number 8067016437, took delivery of funds from an unlawful act against their victim, Chebet Chumba.
Count two of the charge reads; “That you, Ajim Kerison Onubuogu, sometime between April and July 2023 in Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, fraudulently impersonated one Chris M. Akaa, a resident of Atlanta, GA. In the United States of America using the computer system through a fake Facebook Account, you gained the sum of Forty-three Thousand, Eight Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($43, 850) from one Chebet Chumba by intentionally sending to her, love messages that you knew to be false, to gain advantage of yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (3) (a) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the same Act”.
Count Four of the charge reads; “That you, Ajim Tochukwu Christian, sometime between 19th March 2023 and 9th May 2024 in Enugu, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria did commit a felony to wit: using and taking possession of an aggregate sum of Eighteen million, Six Hundred and Seventy-five Thousand, One Hundred and Thirty-three Naira, Seventy-five Kobo (N18, 675, 133. 75), belonging to one Chebet Chumba, through your Opay Digital Service Ltd account number 8067016437, knowing same to be a fund that forms part of proceeds of an unlawful act and you thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 18 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2022 as amended and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the same Act”.
Although the brothers pleaded not guilty to the charges, Michael Ani, Counsel to EFCC prayed the court for a trial date and that the defendants should be remanded at the Enugu State Correctional Facility.
The prayer was granted, and the case was adjourned to Tuesday, January 21st, 2025, for the hearing of the defendant’s application for bail.
The siblings were arrested when Chebet Chumba an American petitioned the Commission stating how she was allegedly scammed of the said sum by the defendants.
Investigations revealed that the brothers specialize in love scams via fake social media accounts even as some fraudulent documents were recovered from them.
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