Couple allegedly used music studio, personal accounts to launder proceeds from bogus export scheme targeting China and Hong Kong
A businessman and his wife have been arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly defrauding investors of approximately N740 million through a fake export scheme promising lucrative returns on bitter kola and red kolanut shipments to Asia.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday brought Osabohien Ologbosele, Chief Executive Officer of Onome Global Market Resources Limited and Lexicon Multi-concept Media Limited, alongside his wife Hope Oghelemu, before Justice Ekerete Akpan. The two companies were also listed as defendants.
The Alleged Scheme
According to EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale, investigations revealed that the defendants allegedly induced several individuals to invest funds under the guise of procuring and exporting bitter kola and red kolanut to Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia, with promises of substantial returns on investment.
"Further findings showed that investors neither received the promised returns nor had their capital refunded," Oyewale said.
The Charges
The defendants face seven charges bordering on obtaining by false pretence, conversion of funds, and money laundering, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
One of the amended counts alleges that between January 2023 and April 2024 in Abuja, Ologbosele took possession of N340 million paid into his Kuda Microfinance Bank account from his wife's Access Bank account—funds he allegedly knew were proceeds of unlawful activities.
The EFCC further alleged that he used N24.1 million from the same source to establish and operate a music and photo studio at Crowther Plaza in the Gudu District of Abuja.
Court Proceedings
Prosecution counsel O. S. Ujam informed the court that amended charges filed on January 28, 2026, were ready to be read to the defendants. All pleaded not guilty.
Defense counsel Marshal Abubakar requested that the first defendant continue on administrative bail previously granted by the court and sought bail for the third defendant (Oghelemu), citing the need to care for a one-year-old baby.
Justice Akpan denied bail to Oghelemu but allowed Ologbosele to continue on administrative bail. The judge ordered that Oghelemu be remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre and adjourned the case to April 27, 2026, for a definite hearing.
The case highlights the growing menace of investment fraud in Nigeria, where perpetrators exploit the public's appetite for high returns by promising profits from seemingly legitimate export businesses—only to vanish with investors' funds, leaving shattered dreams and empty bank accounts in their wake.
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