EFCC Arraigns Jude Okoye Over N1.38 Billion Money Laundering Allegations
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Jude Okoye, the former manager and elder brother of Paul and Peter Okoye from the defunct music group P-Square, on money laundering charges involving N1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.
Okoye was arraigned alongside his company, Northside Music Ltd, before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Lagos on a seven-count charge.
One of the charges states:
“That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd, sometime in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did directly acquire a landed property known as No. 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, worth N850,000,000.00 (Eight hundred and fifty million naira) only, which money you knew or reasonably ought to have known forms part of proceeds of an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2)(d) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
Another charge alleges that Okoye and his company used a bureau de change in 2022 to convert $1,019,762.87—held in an Access Bank account operated by Northside Music Ltd—into naira and transferred the funds into various bank accounts to conceal the illicit origin of the money. This, according to the EFCC, violates Section 18 (2)(a) and is punishable under Section 18 (3) of the same Act.
Okoye pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Following his plea, the prosecution counsel, Larry Aso, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending trial.
However, Okoye’s lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, informed the court of a pending bail application and requested a short date for its hearing. He also appealed for his client to be held in EFCC custody instead of a correctional facility.
The prosecution opposed this request, arguing that the EFCC’s detention facility was already overcrowded with suspects awaiting arraignment.
Justice Owoeye adjourned the bail hearing to February 28 and scheduled the trial for April 14. He also ordered Okoye’s remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility until the bail hearing.
Reports suggest that the charges originated from a petition filed by Peter Okoye to the EFCC last year, accusing Jude Okoye of money laundering.
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