The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arraigned Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, popularly known as Thankgod, a former manager of renowned gospel singer Mercy Chinwo, before the Federal High Court in Lagos over allegations of illegal foreign exchange transactions and money laundering totalling $255,446.
Ezekiel, alongside his company Eezee Global Concepts Limited, is facing a seven-count charge bordering on unlawful forex dealings and failure to comply with regulatory financial reporting obligations.
According to EFCC counsel, Bilikisu Buhari-Bala, the charges stem from multiple unauthorised foreign exchange transactions carried out between 2021 and 2024. In one instance, she told the court that Ezekiel, without being a licensed foreign exchange dealer as required by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), conducted a forex transaction worth $52,895 in June 2023 with a private individual, Oladotun Olaobaju Mureke.
She stated that such transactions violated the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, specifically Sections 5 and 29(1)(c), and are punishable under Section 29(2) of the same Act.
Ezekiel pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following his plea, Buhari-Bala requested that the defendant be remanded in custody pending trial, citing his alleged attempts to evade the legal process.
“The defendant has previously avoided being served the charge, and there is an active arrest warrant against him,” she told the court, opposing any immediate bail relief.
However, defence counsel Chikaosolu Ojukwu, SAN, argued that Ezekiel should be granted bail on compassionate grounds. He informed the court that the defendant’s two children were seriously ill and that their father was the only one available to care for them. Ojukwu appealed for bail on liberal terms and asked the court to release the defendant temporarily to him while bail conditions are being met.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke adjourned the ruling on the bail application to May 9, 2025. In the interim, he granted temporary custody of the defendant to his counsel.
The EFCC also detailed other allegations in the charge sheet. In March 2021, Ezekiel and Eezee Global Concepts allegedly conducted a $70,000 foreign exchange transaction with Avalan Chetrase 1307 Company without the requisite CBN approval. Similarly, in October 2022, they allegedly engaged in another illicit forex deal involving $18,775 with one Gift Ugochi Christopher.
The anti-graft agency further accused the defendants of failing to report their financial transactions to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML). The commission said that $65,703 moved through the company’s account in 2022 without the mandatory declaration, followed by $52,350 in 2023 and $137,383 in 2024—all through the same Zenith Bank account.
These alleged violations fall under Sections 6(1)(a) and 19(1)(f) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which are punishable under Section 19(2)(b).
As the legal proceedings unfold, the case casts a spotlight on financial compliance lapses within Nigeria’s entertainment and gospel music sectors.
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