Alleged N1.38bn Fraud: EFCC Arraigns Jude Okoye, P-Square’s Older Brother

JUDE Okoye, the older brother and former manager of the popular P-Square music group, has been charged with seven counts of money laundering by the EFCC.

His company, Northside Music Ltd, is also implicated in the charges, which involve the laundering of vast sums of money.

The EFCC alleges that Okoye used illicit funds to purchase a luxurious property valued at N850 million in 2022.

Additionally, he is accused of using a bureau de change to convert over $1 million into naira, which was then deposited into various bank accounts to conceal its origin.

One of the charges reads:

“That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd sometimes 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 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 reads:

“That you, Jude Okoye Chigozie and Northside Music Ltd sometimes in 2022, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did indirectly using bureau de change, converted the sum of $1,019,762.87 (One million nineteen thousand, seven hundred and six-two dollars eighty seven cents), domiciled in Access Bank Plc operated by Northside Music Ltd to the naira equivalent and remitted into various bank accounts with intention of concealing that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2)(a) and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

Okoye has entered a plea of not guilty to the charges brought against him. His lawyer has filed a bail application, while the prosecution has requested that he be remanded in a correctional facility pending the outcome of the trial.

The court has set a date for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of the trial. Okoye will remain in custody at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre until the next court hearing, scheduled for February 28, 2025, with the trial set to begin on April 14, 2025.