A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday remanded Mr Jesam Michael, the Chief Executive Officer of Afriq Arbitrage System Limited, in Kuje Correctional Centre over alleged investment fraud.
Ruling on Michael’s bail application shortly after his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Justice Obiora Egwuatu refused the plea based on the gravity of the offence and the evidence against him.
The judge concurred with the argument presented by EFCC lawyer Martha Babatunde, who stated that despite the current charges, more petitions were still being received by the commission and other security agencies from victims of the defendant’s ponzi scheme.
Justice Egwuatu noted that the anti-graft agency also submitted that its investigations revealed over 50,000 investors in Michael’s failed investment scheme. He observed that the victims were aggrieved and that it would be in Michael’s best interest for his safety to remain in government custody pending the trial’s conclusion.
The judge ordered an accelerated hearing of the trial and directed Michael’s transfer from EFCC custody to Kuje Correctional Centre. He stressed the importance of a speedy trial while the defendant remained in custody.
The EFCC, in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/134/2025, arraigned Michael and his company, a cryptocurrency trading platform, as the 1st and 2nd defendants.
In the seven-count charge, which includes allegations of money laundering and advance fee fraud, the EFCC accused Michael of orchestrating an investment fraud involving $844,416.36, N590 million, and another $10,000.
The commission alleged that between September 2022 and June 2023 in Abuja, Michael and his company, while not being a bank or an authorised entity to accept deposits, solicited funds from the public through advertisements to deposit money with Afriq Arbitrage System Limited.
This, according to the EFCC, contravenes Section 44(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, and is punishable under the same Act.
The EFCC further accused Michael and his company of engaging in financial services, including investment management, without a valid licence. Additionally, the defendants were alleged to have converted N590 million, part of the funds generated from the sale of properties recovered from Oluwasesan Abayomi, between October and December 2024 in Abuja, knowing the funds constituted proceeds of unlawful activity.
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