EFCC has arraigned Bigibet founder Adepoju Abiodun over alleged ₦855 million investment scam.
He pleaded not guilty to 10 fraud charges and was remanded at Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, founder of the online gaming platform Bigibet, and his company, Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, on allegations of defrauding investors of N855 million under the guise of equity investments.
The arraignment took place on Wednesday, July 8, 2025, before Justice O.A. Okunuga at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja. The EFCC filed a 10-count charge against Abiodun and his firm, accusing them of stealing and obtaining money by pretense between June and September 2021
According to the EFCC, Abiodun approached a petitioner in 2021, presenting Noblesteed Nigeria Limited as a credible enterprise operating in the lottery and gaming sector. He allegedly convinced the petitioner to invest in the company’s equity capital, citing his supposed experience in the industry. Abiodun is also accused of bringing in other individuals to pool funds for the same purpose.
Investigators revealed that the petitioner and others transferred a sum of N855 million into a Guaranty Trust Bank account (No. 0591549473) controlled by Abiodun. However, EFCC prosecutors allege that the funds were never used for the promised equity investments and were not refunded, violating the terms of the agreement.
One of the charges read in court stated:
“That you, Mr. Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, sometime between June 2021 and September 2021 in Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honorable Court, deceitfully obtained the total sum of N855,000,000.00 from several unsuspecting persons… by falsely representing to them that the said amount was an investment for the purchase of Equity Share Capital of Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, which representation you knew to be false…”
The EFCC filed the case under Sections 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006.
Both Abiodun and Noblesteed Nigeria Limited pleaded not guilty to all the charges. EFCC counsel A.M. Dambuwa applied for the defendant to be remanded pending trial.
The defense counsel, Adeyinka Abdulsalam, confirmed that a bail application had been submitted and served. Justice Okunuga consequently ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre, pending the hearing of the bail application scheduled for July 9, 2025.
The trial is scheduled to commence on September 17, 2025.
This development comes amid a growing list of investment fraud cases in Nigeria’s fintech and gaming sectors. In a similar move earlier this week, the EFCC re-arraigned TSTV Managing Director Bright Echefu for an alleged N1 billion and $1.3 million investment scam. The Commission also arraigned two CBEX promoters for promising Nigerians exaggerated returns of 88% without regulatory approval.
The EFCC has continued to warn the public against high-yield investment schemes that lack approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or other relevant authorities.
