EFCC arraigns Forex Broker for Alleged N2b Investment Scam in Uyo

The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday, 19 July 2024, arraigned Rufus John Isip, a self-proclaimed forex broker, before Justice C. S. Onah of the Federal High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

Isip, alongside his company ITM-IT Resources Limited, faces an eight-count charge, including fraudulent conversion, money laundering, and obtaining funds under false pretences amounting to N2,022,081,172 (Two Billion, Twenty-Two Million, Eighty-One Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira).

One of the charges against Isip reads: “That you, Rufus John Isip, being the Director of ITM-IT Resources Limited, in December 2020 and May 2021, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with the intent to defraud, obtained N431,331,172 (Four Hundred and Thirty-One Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-One Thousand, One Hundred and Seventy-Two Naira) from Michael Okon, Director of N-Rex Resources Limited. You falsely claimed this was an investment in Vandera, an online investment platform, which you knew to be false. This act is contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”

Another count states: “That you, Rufus John Isip, being the Director of ITM-IT Resources Limited, between December 2020 and May 2021, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, converted N730,870,000 (Seven Hundred and Thirty Million, Eight Hundred and Seventy Thousand Naira) to cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) and transferred it to your Binance Wallet, knowing the funds were proceeds of unlawful activities. This act contravenes Section 15 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2011, and is punishable under Section 15 (3) (4) of the same Act.”

Isip pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Following his plea, EFCC counsel Khamis Mahmud requested that Isip be remanded in EFCC custody, stating, “We are still investigating him on other cases.” The defence counsel, Samson Ewuje, did not object to this request.

Justice Onah adjourned the case to 14 October 2024 for trial and ordered that Isip be remanded at the EFCC’s Uyo Zonal Directorate.

Isip’s arrest followed a petition by Michael George, who claimed that Isip lured him into investing in an online trading platform called Vandora.io. George alleged that Isip convinced him that trading on this platform, with a minimum capital of $100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Dollars), would be highly profitable, especially if more investors were involved. After George and other investors put their money into the platform, Isip vanished when the agreed 60-day period for earning profits expired.