EFCC arraigns suspected Ponzi mastermind over alleged N10bn laundering through fake telecom links.
Court remands Ifeanyi as trial looms over one of Nigeria’s biggest financial fraud cases.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned one Adonu Kingsley Ifeanyi at the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of laundering more than N10 billion. The funds are believed to be linked to a suspected Ponzi scheme.
Ifeanyi appeared before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Thursday, where he was arraigned on a five-count charge under case number FHC/L/280c/2025. According to the EFCC, the defendant allegedly used a company named S. Mobile Netzone Limited to divert large sums of money, while pretending to be in partnership with telecom operator MTN Nigeria.
The prosecution, led by EFCC counsel Suleiman I. Suleiman, told the court that Ifeanyi allegedly moved proceeds of unlawful activities between June 2021 and July 2022 using the accounts of S. Mobile Netzone Limited and another company, Setbiz Datalink Concept Limited.
Specific amounts cited in the charge include N1.07 billion, which reportedly passed through S. Mobile Netzone’s Fidelity Bank account between June 4 and July 23, 2021. Another N656.4 million allegedly moved through the same account between June 2 and July 14, 2021. The EFCC also accused Ifeanyi of taking possession of N6.79 billion between January 15, 2021, and April 14, 2022; N959 million between March 23 and July 26, 2022; and N530 million through Setbiz Datalink Concept Limited from March 15 to March 31, 2022.
The charges, according to the anti-graft agency, fall under Section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended), and are punishable under Section 15(3) of the same legislation.
One of the charges reads, “That you, ADONU KINGSLEY IFEANYI, between June 4, 2021, and July 23, 2021, in Lagos, did take possession of the total sum of N1,076,337,842 through a Fidelity Bank account in the name S. Mobile Netzone Limited, knowing the funds were proceeds of unlawful activity, to wit: stealing…”
Ifeanyi pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
After his plea, the EFCC requested a trial date and asked the judge to remand the defendant in a correctional facility. While defence lawyer Chibuike Opara did not oppose setting a trial date, he urged the court to allow Ifeanyi remain in EFCC custody until the court rules on his bail request.
However, the prosecution objected, insisting that once arraignment has taken place, it is standard for the defendant to be remanded in a correctional centre.
Justice Aneke sided with the prosecution and ordered that Ifeanyi be held at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre. The case was adjourned until July 4, 2025, for the hearing on the bail application.
