After at first grandstanding as being innocent and pleading not guilty to allegations of fraud to the tune of $11million dollars which is at least N4 plus billion in Nigerian currency brought against him. Internationally acclaimed fraudster, who was highly celebrated by the now bungling Forbes Magazine and even had his day on their illustrious cover, the one and only 'Obiwanne Okeke' of the Invictus Group fame has finally changed his plea on the allegations against him, to guilty as charged.
Maybe the avalanche of evidences that was painstakingly compiled against him, may have convinced him to do the needful, hence the now guilty plea.
While the going was good, the fine boy businessman painted himself to the world as a pure businessman with the Midas touch at his young age, supposedly dealing in Energy, Real Estate and Construction across Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia. So fluid was he and so sure of his facade that he openly embraced all the adulations poured his way by all and sundry, especially the slap of encouragement on his back by the formerly revered Forbes Magazine, who without doing their expected due diligence painted him as a saint of a businessman and he was listed in their 30 under 30 billionaires list.
Until his unraveling began, after he was arrested last year in America, he rode on the public false perception of him like the victorious Zeus after winning a great battle and was gliding home in thunder to Mount Olympia with all the attendant glory of victory as all others were clapping and hailing and gleefully genuflecting in awe. According to the official of the US district court, the dude could spend as much as 20 years in the American jail. He has admitted though (and pleaded guilty to the allegations) to have been involved in computer based frauds between 2015 & 2019.
Obiwanne Okeke 32 and his other co-alleged were accused of systematically targeting US businesses in a probe led by the FBI.
A subsidiary of heavy equipment giant Caterpillar, by name UNATRAC was amongst the companies that was targeted by the cartel in the usual business email compromise scheme for several years. At least about $11 million dollars was said to have been traced to the criminal ring he was a part of. He was alleged to have used the proceeds of his illicit dealings to build a business empire in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria.
He was actually arrested since August 2019 just as he was about leaving the US for Nigeria. He has since then being held in jail for several months.
So come October 22, 2020 his sentence would be proclaimed.
No comments:
Post a Comment