Man Ends In Court For Alleged N2M Love Scam In Lagos

The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on May 8, 2023, arraigned one Femi Emmanuel Phillip for an alleged involvement in romance scam to the tune of N2m before Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The suspect was arrested sometime in April 2021, following intelligence reports received by the Commission about his alleged involvement in the criminal activity.

At the point of his arrest, operatives of the EFCC recovered some documents linking him to a romance scam.

One of the counts reads: “That you, Femi Emmanuel Phillips, (Male), Adult, on or about the 9th day of April, 2021, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, with intent to defraud, retained in your control the aggregate sum of N2,000,000.00 (Two Million Naira), one Black HP Laptop, one Gold Coloured HP laptop, one black iPhone 7 plus, one golden coloured iPhone 6 and one red coloured SICCOO Phone, which were proceeds of criminal conduct, deceitfully obtained from unsuspecting members of the public, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 17 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment, etc) Act No: 4 of 2004.”

He pleaded “not guilty” to the one- count charge.

In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, Ahmed Yerima, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility.

The defence counsel, I. Chiaha, in response, told the court about a pending bail application and also prayed the court for the defendant to remain in the EFCC custody. Justice Oweibo adjourned to June 2, 2023 for hearing of the bail application or trial

The defendant was ordered to be remanded in Ikoyi Prison.