Human Rights
EFCC Arraigns Nigerian-American Over Alleged $320,000 G-Wagon Fraud
By Joseph Sunday
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned a Nigerian-American, Oluwatobi Adegoke, over an alleged $320,000 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon fraud before Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos.
Adegoke was arraigned on Thursday, October 8, 2026, on a one-count charge bordering on stealing.
He was arrested in July 2026 by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Directorate for alleged cross-border vehicle import fraud estimated at N434.88 million.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendant is part of a syndicate based in the United States that defrauds unsuspecting Nigerians under the pretext of purchasing and importing vehicles from the US.
Investigations revealed that while residing in the US, Adegoke allegedly advertised a 2024 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG to prospective buyers in Nigeria, circulating photographs and claiming he could purchase and ship the luxury SUV to them. Two victims were said to have paid a combined sum of over $320,000 for the transaction.
The charge against him reads: “That you, Oluwatobi Adegoke, sometime in December 2024 at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, dishonestly converted to your own use, the sum of $680,000, property of Ikechukwu Osita Ifeabunike, being money transferred to the bank account of your company, Omosco Auto Sales LLC, for purchase of 2022 G-Wagon from Mr Robinson.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty.
Following his plea, EFCC counsel, Arazeem Adebayo, asked the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant in a correctional centre.
Defence counsel, Olalekan Abiodun, had earlier objected to the arraignment but was overruled by the court. His subsequent application for the defendant to be remanded in EFCC custody pending the filing of a bail application was also overruled.
Justice Abike-Fadipe ordered that Adegoke be remanded at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre and adjourned the case till January 13, 2027, for trial.