EFCC Arraigns 2 Over Alleged $12m Crypto Investment, N337m Bank Fraud In Abuja, Lagos

… As N1.4bn Subsidy Trial Continues

By Joseph Sunday 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned two defendants in separate cases in Abuja and Lagos on Monday, June 29, 2026, over alleged multi-million dollar investment and bank fraud, while the N1.4 billion petroleum subsidy fraud trial of a Lagos oil executive continued in Ikeja.

Abuja – US$3.6m / AUD$8.4m crypto investment case:

According to a June 30 EFCC statement signed by Head, Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the Commission arraigned Usie Otukpa Osang before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja.

Osang faces an eight-count charge of impersonation and obtaining by false pretence, contrary to the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The EFCC alleges that between May 2021 and May 2022, Osang, operating under the names Oscar Tyler and Ford Thompson, and others at large, defrauded Australian citizen Brian Jacques Creigh, CEO of investment firm Panacea Capital, of AUD$8,427,330.83 and US$3,639,462.00.

The Commission further alleges that Osang obtained BTC 19.806, valued at $1,079,313.00, from Creigh between August 14 and November 23, 2021, through a Binance wallet, by falsely presenting Liquid Assets Group as a licensed cryptocurrency trading and investment platform.

Osang pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Justice Egwuatu ordered Osang remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre, and adjourned to July 14, 2026, for hearing of the bail application.

Lagos – N336.9m Lotus Bank case:

Also on June 29, the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Ikoyi, arraigned Abdulkarim Muhammad Arome and his company, Cresco Oil and Gas Limited, before Justice O. A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

They face an amended three-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing and retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, contrary to the Criminal Law of Lagos State and the EFCC Establishment Act.

The EFCC alleges that Arome, one Peter Daniels Prosper, now at large, and Cresco Oil conspired in 2022 in Lagos to steal funds belonging to Lotus Bank, and dishonestly converted N336,993,863.35 between 2022 and 2023.

Arome and Cresco Oil pleaded not guilty:

Justice Okunuga remanded the defendants at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre and adjourned to October 7, 2026, for commencement of trial.

Lagos – N1.4bn subsidy fraud trial:

In a continuing case, Justice Ismail Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on June 30 admitted more documents tendered by the EFCC in the trial of Nadabo Energy Limited Managing Director Abubakar Ali Peters and his company.

Peters is standing trial on a 27-count charge for allegedly obtaining N1,464,961,978.24 from the Federal Government as oil subsidy using forged documents. The case was reassigned to Justice Ijelu following the retirement of Justice C.A. Balogun.

The EFCC alleges that on April 3, 2012, Peters fraudulently obtained N978,401,732.09 by claiming subsidy for 19,488,992 litres of PMS, whereas only 6,505,140.04 litres were imported, and forged a Certificate of Marine Insurance No. 0047851 purportedly issued by Staco Insurance Plc.

At the resumed sitting, EFCC investigator Adaobi Amanda Obiakor, PW3, identified correspondence with the PPPRA, Enterprise Bank, and Sky Bank Plc, now Polaris Bank, bank documents on shipments via MT Evridiki and MT St. Vanessa in 2011, an email to former EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa, and the defendants’ extra-judicial statements, all admitted in evidence.

Under cross-examination on June 30, Obiakor confirmed the defendants’ statements were voluntary, but no lawyer was present when they were taken.

Justice Ijelu adjourned to October 12 and 13, 2026, for continuation of trial.