{"id":59620,"date":"2025-01-15T17:32:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T17:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=59620"},"modified":"2025-01-15T17:32:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T17:32:31","slug":"efcc-exposes-shocking-truth-behind-n6bn-fraud-suspects-alleged-tribunal-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/01\/15\/efcc-exposes-shocking-truth-behind-n6bn-fraud-suspects-alleged-tribunal-role\/","title":{"rendered":"EFCC Exposes Shocking Truth Behind N6bn Fraud Suspect\u2019s Alleged Tribunal Role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Gabriella Ogbu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has debunked claims that Jonathan Okunbor, a prime suspect in a staggering \u20a66 billion fraud case, served as a witness in the ongoing Edo State election tribunal.<br \/>\nThe controversy erupted after Asue Ighodalo, the governorship candidate of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that Okunbor was part of his legal team\u2019s witness list.<br \/>\nIn a swift response on Wednesday, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale dismissed the claim, revealing that Okunbor was, in fact, at the center of a massive financial misappropriation scheme spanning all 18 local government areas of Edo State.<br \/>\n&#8220;The EFCC&#8217;s attention has been drawn to misleading reports suggesting that Jonathan Okunbor was an election witness.<br \/>\n&#8220;We categorically state that Okunbor is not connected to the PDP tribunal case. He is the prime suspect in a fraud investigation involving the diversion of billions in public funds,&#8221; Oyewale stated.<br \/>\nInvestigations, according to the EFCC, uncovered a complex financial web, with Okunbor allegedly siphoning \u20a66 billion through a company he secretly owned, Kezmith Global Ventures.<br \/>\nShockingly, he operated the firm under the false identity of Godfrey Emode, a name that only came to light after Emode\u2019s arrest led investigators straight to Okunbor\u2019s hideout.<br \/>\nEFCC operatives tracked Okunbor to Eterno Hotel, where he was found in a pre-trial meeting.<br \/>\nDespite resistance from Ighodalo and his legal team, the anti-graft agency insisted on Okunbor\u2019s immediate arrest, raising questions about possible attempts to shield him from prosecution.<br \/>\n&#8220;Ighodalo strongly insisted that Okunbor was his witness, even when it was clear he was aiding his escape,&#8221; Oyewale revealed.<br \/>\nThe EFCC reaffirmed its commitment to due process, stressing that &#8220;being a tribunal witness does not grant immunity from prosecution.&#8221;<br \/>\nAs the case unfolds, the agency urged the public to disregard the misleading narrative, vowing to pursue justice\u2014without fear or favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Gabriella Ogbu The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has debunked claims that Jonathan Okunbor, a prime suspect in a staggering \u20a66 billion fraud case, served as a witness in the ongoing Edo State election tribunal. The controversy erupted after Asue Ighodalo, the governorship candidate of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP), alleged that Okunbor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":59621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-59620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59622,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59620\/revisions\/59622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}