The trial of one Ikedinachi Grace Nonyelum, an alleged serial property fraudster, began on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, before Justice F.O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu.
Nonyelum is being prosecuted by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence to the tune of ₦9 million.
According to the charge, the defendant allegedly defrauded one Okechukwu Benson Chiewuzie of the said sum in February 2022, under the pretext of selling him a bungalow at Ogbeke Nike, Enugu State.
The prosecution alleges that she later resold the same property to another person.
One of the counts reads, “That you, Ikedinachi Grace Nonyelum, sometime in February, 2022 at Enugu, Enugu State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, induced one Okechukwu Benson Chiewuzie to give you through Keystone Bank account number 6024270203, the sum of ₦9,000,000.00 (Nine Million Naira only) under the pretence that you would sell to him a bungalow house at Ogbeke Nike Enugu, Enugu State, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
Nonyelum was arraigned on May 29, 2024, and pleaded not guilty, paving the way for the commencement of trial.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, the EFCC presented its first prosecution witness, Inspector of the EFCC, IE I Aminu Garba Mohammed, who narrated how the Commission received a petition on November 8, 2022 from Chiewuzie, alleging that Nonyelum lured him into paying ₦9 million for a house that she later sold to another buyer.
“During the course of investigation, we invited the complainant to adopt his petition. We wrote to Keystone Bank requesting the defendant’s statement of account, which was duly provided. Analysis showed that the complainant paid ₦1.3 million into the defendant’s account,” Mohammed testified.
The prosecution tendered several documents, including the defendant’s statement, the petition, and the statement of account, all of which were admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibits 1 (1–3), 2 (1–2), and 3 (1–27) respectively.
While analyzing the bank records, the witness stated that the complainant made three payments to the defendant, ₦500,000 on April 19, 2022, ₦300,000 on April 21, 2022, and another ₦500,000 via POS on September 6, 2022, totaling ₦1.3 million, while the rest of the payment was made in cash, as the defendant admitted in her statement.
Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo adjourned the case to January 21, 2026, for continuation of trial.
