Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has remanded a suspected fraudster, Oghenekevwe Innocent Akinnawo (a.k.a Rodriguez Filiberto, Richard Welburn and Scott Mendez) in prison custody, following his arraignment on a seven-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of $1,138,000 (One Million, One Hundred and Thirty Eight Million Dollars only).
Akinnawo is being prosecuted by the Port Harcourt Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
According to the charge sheet, the accused sometime in February in 2018 in Port Harcourt obtained the sum of USD1,030,000 from one Lucille De Mattos, an American citizen under the false pretence that the sum was an investment.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel, A. Arogbha, asked for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendant in prison custody.
However, the defence counsel, Reuben Wanogho made an application for bail, which though could not be heard.
Justice Justice Mohammed Sanni remanded the defendant in prison custody, and adjourned the hearing for his bail application to March 13, 2019, while he slated April 8 and 11, 2019 for the commencement of trial.
Akinnawo ran into troubles when he was arrested by Operatives of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Port Harcourt’s Zonal Office on alleged fraudulent activities ranging from love scam on numerous dating sites, obtaining money by false pretences and swindling two Americans: Lucille De Mattos and Patricia Hawks on a phony oil shipment deal.
