Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested him, according to a statement.

According to EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, the Nigerian is wanted by the FBI for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.

The statement read, “EFCC Arrests Suspect on FBI Wanted-List in Enugu.The Enugu Zonal Command of the EFCC, has arrested Emmanuel Dike Chidiebere, a suspect on the watch list of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.Acting on verified intelligence, operatives of the Commission on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, tracked the suspect to Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State where he was arrested. Chidiebere is alleged to have defrauded some victims in America, Cote D’Ivoire and Poland of some undisclosed amount of money and went underground. Three of his accomplices are still at large.”

The Zonal Head, Abdullahi Lawal confimred Oluwatosin’s name is on the wanted list of the FBI. Lawal while parading the suspect in Sokoto on Thursday listed the assets recovered from his residence. They were Mercedes Benz E550, Mercedes Benz C450, an IPhone, laptops, modem and SIM cards.

Lawal added that the suspect and his accomplices both in Nigeria and overseas, acquired retirement account information (RAI) and personally identifiable information (PII) of multiple persons which they fraudulently used to wire funds into newly created business bank accounts tied to the fraudulently created business.

The EFCC said the female suspect worked in collaboration with foreign counterpart in dark web.

Head of Benin Zonal Office Muhtar Bello , said the female suspect was involved in obtaining and stealing people’s identification information which she forward to her American collaborators.
Bello said her American collaborators used the information to file for fraudulent tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. He stated that the suspect received her CT through Bitcoin and about 185 Bitcoin currently worth N656m was traced to her.

Magu made this known in Ilorin on Friday 30th of August 2019 at a press conference to explain the EFCC/FBI Collaboration in the fight against internet fraud and cyber crime. The EFCC Chairman who was represented by Ilorin Zonal Head of the Commission, Mr Isyaku Sharu said the anti-graft body has been supportive to the activities of FBI and every other foreign counterpart whose responsibility is similar or analogous to the Commission.

Sharu said “Three weeks ago, the US authority had written to us for assistance in tracking and possible arrest and prosecution of two most wanted FBI suspects in Nigeria. Investigation conducted by the EFCC revealed that Joseph had benefited about N60 million from the loot via western union transfers”.

The President said this when he met with leaders of the Nigerian Community living in Japan on the sidelines of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

He said “Let me also say that there are few Nigerians in the Diaspora that are giving us a bad name by engaging in criminal activities. These Nigerians are a minority, they do not represent the values of our country, and I plead with them to change their ways. We will not condone any crime whether at home or abroad, and we will also not allow these Nigerians define us as a people with reputation for criminality.”

This is coming after the FBI released the name of 77 Nigerians who have been arrested for cyber related crime in the US.

Erewa-Dabiri decried the rate at which Nigerians particularly the youth get involved in all manners of fraudulent activities in foreign countries, saying more efforts should be geared towards the combating of the crimes.

She said “It is very embarrassing to know that out of 80 suspected fraudsters you find, 70 are actually Nigerians. When things like these happen, they damage the image of the country. We hope that the EFCC will reassure the world that we are fighting cyber crime”

Today we bring an update on that news, as we can confirm that 77 of the arrested suspects are Nigerians. They were accused of conspiring with federal and state agents to perpetrate the crime.

Asides being involved in schemes that resulted in the transfer of at least $6 million which was obtained fraudulently, the suspects were also allegedly involved in the attempted theft of at least an additional $40 million.

Here is the full list below;

1 Valentine Iro

2 Chukwudi Christogunus Igbokwe

3 Jerry Elo Ikogho

4 Izuchukwu Kingsley Umejesi

5 Adegoke Moses Ogungbe

6 Chukwudi Collins Ajaeze (better known as Thank You Jesus)

7 Ekene Augustine Ekechukwu

8 Chuks Eroha

9 Collins Nnaemeka Ojima

10 Uchenna Ochiagha

11 Nnamdi Theojoseph Duru

12 Ericson Uche Oforka

13 Mark Ifeanyi Chukwuocha

14 Augustine Nnamdi

15 Chiemezie Christopher Chilaka

16 Charles Ohajimkpo

17 Stanley Ugochukwu Uche

18 Chika Augustine Odionyenma

19 Paschal Chima Ogbonna

20 Samuel Nnamdi Onwuasoanya

21 Macwilliam Chinonso Chukwuocha

22 Emmanuel Onyeka Uzoka

23 Joshua Aniefiok Awak

24 George Ugochukwu Egwumba

25 Uchechukwu Solomon Ezirim

26 Augustine Ifeanyi Okafor

27 Okay Sam Mal

28 Leslie N. Mba

29 Ogohukwu Innocent Ikewesi

30 Emmanuel Uzoma Ogandu (better known as Son of God’

31 Amarachukwu Harley Anywanu

32 Bright Ifeanyi Azubuike

33 Emeka Moses Nwachukwu

34 Donatus Izunwanne

35 Chinwendu Kenneth Osuji

36 Eusebius Ugochukwu Onyeka

37 Chidi Anunobi

38 Anthony Nwabunwanne Okolo

39 Obinna Christian Onuwa

40 Chijioke Chukwuma Isamade

41 Linus Nnamdi Madufor

42 Chrysaugonus Nnebedum

43 Ugochukwu Okereke

44 Fidel Leon Odimara

45 Kingsley Chinedu Onudorogu

46 Dessi Nzenwah

47 Chimaroke Obasi

48 James Chigozie Agube

49 Chimaobi Uzozie Okorie

50 Ogochukwu Ohiri

51 Kennedy Chibueze Ugwu

52 Ifeanyichukwu Oluwadamilare Agwuegbo

53 Victor Ifeanyi Chukwu

54 Chidi Emmanuel Megwa

55 Princewill Arinze Duru

56 Desmond Iwu

57 Onyeka Vincent Chika

58 Ifeanyi Kingsley Mezienwa

59 Victor Uchenna Aguh

60 Kevin Amarachi Eshimnu

61 Vitalis Kelechi Anozie

62 Williams Obiora Agunwa

63 George Chimezie Dike

64 Munachiso Kyrian Ukachukwu

65 Nwannebuike Osmund

66 Chidiebere Franklin Nwangwu

67 Damian Uchechukwu Ajah

68 Emeka P. Ejiofor

69 Lawrence Chukwuma Ubasineke

70 Chinedu Bright Ibeto

71 Valentine Amarachi Nwanegwo

72 Emmanuel Chidiebere Dike

73 Jeremiah Utieyin Eki

74 Chinaka Davidson Iwuoha

75 Chima Darlington Duru

76 Ikenna Christian Ihejiureme

77 Obi Onyedika Madekwe

He was arrested last week on the last day of his trip to the United States for allegedly defrauding top American companies of huge sums. His arrest came after Special Agent Marshall Ward of the FBI and the team he heads opened up an investigation in July 2018, following a petition by Unatrac Holding Limited.

The charge sheet reads in part “In June 2018, Unatrac Holding Limited, the export sales office for Caterpillar heavy industrial and farm equipment, headquartered in the United Kingdom, contacted the FBI. They reported that Unatrac had been victimised through an email compromise, which ultimately resulted in fraudulent wire transfers totalling nearly 11million US Dollars. After reviewing the documentation provided by the representatives, the FBI opened an investigation in July 2018. The FBI discovered that after capturing the legitimate credentials of Unatrac’s Chief Financial Officer, the accused was able to log in and access the CFO’s entire Office365 account, which included all of his emails and various digital files, the logs indicated that between April 6 and April 20, 2018, the intruder accessed the CFO’s account 464 times, mostly from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses from Nigeria. With full access to the account, the intruder sent fraudulent wire transfer requests from the CFO’s email account to members of Unatrac’s internal financial team. The intruder also attached fake invoices to the emails to enhance the credibility of the requests. The investigation, painstaking and far-reaching, lasted more than a year during which Obinwanne emerged as the principal culprit and has since been arrested while on his regular visit to the United States.”

Before his arrest, Obinwanne Okeke was a celebrated businessman who had a ‘grass to grace’ story on Forbes.