The trial of Osabohein Alex Ologbose, Chief Executive Officer of Onome Global Market Resources Limited and Lexicon Multi-concept Media Limited, and his wife, Hope Onome Oghelemu, continued on Wednesday before the Federal High Court in Abuja, with a prosecution witness detailing how he allegedly lost over N28 million to an investment scheme linked to the defendants.
The couple, alongside their companies, are facing a seven-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), bordering on obtaining by false pretence, conversion of funds and money laundering involving an alleged N740 million. The offences are said to contravene provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Testifying before Justice Ekerete Akpan, the second prosecution witness, Modestus Uchenna Okafor, an officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), said he was introduced to the investment opportunity by Alice Ayeni, whom he met while making enquiries at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM Bank) about financing the export of agricultural products, including ginger and garlic.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel O. S. Ujam, Okafor told the court that Ayeni presented herself as both a manager at NEXIM Bank and a director of Onome Global Market Resources Limited. According to him, she convinced him that the company was legitimate by presenting documents, including its Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration, NEXIM certification and EFCC Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) certificate.
The witness said he subsequently invested a total of N28,080,000 into Ayeni’s bank account after being persuaded that the company was involved in profitable agricultural export transactions.
Okafor further testified that he became suspicious after the expected returns failed to materialise. He said investigations later revealed that the shipments the defendants claimed to have made never existed.
According to him, a letter sent to the Nigerian Ports Authority confirmed that there were no records of the alleged exports, prompting him and six other investors to petition the EFCC through their lawyer.
“That was when I concluded that I had been defrauded. Till today, I have neither recovered my investment nor received any returns,” he told the court.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Femi Peter Joseph, the witness acknowledged that several payment receipts contained in documentary evidence before the court showed Alice Ayeni acknowledging the funds paid by him and other investors.
He specifically identified receipts showing payments of N7 million and N4.6 million, as well as another transaction of N2.38 million made by a friend he had introduced to the scheme, with some of the funds reportedly paid into the account of Ayobola Anike Ventures Limited.
After hearing the testimony, Justice Akpan adjourned the case until September 24, 2026, for the continuation of trial.
