Nigerians React To A Man In Court For Defrauding A Church Investor

Daniel Ogbonna was in front of a Yaba Magistrate’s Court in Lagos State for allegedly getting N1.4 million from several locals under the guise of investing the money in a scheme and repaying N5 million within six weeks.

It was learned that the complainant and the defendant had first met at a purportedly member-only Catholic church.

Ogbonna is also reported to have stated that meetings of the Grace Families and Friends investment scheme’s investors took place frequently on church property.

Haruna Magaji, the police prosecutor, informed the court that the defendant and Ngozi Ugwu, a member of the church’s administrative unit, committed the crime in August 2021 at Saint Dominic’s Catholic Church in Yaba, Lagos State.

He asserts that the offenses violate Sections 411, 168, and 315 (1) of the Lagos State Criminal Law of Nigeria, 2015 and are punishable under Section 316(b).

In part, the charges stated,

“That you, Daniel Ogbonna, and others at large conspired to commit a felony, namely obtaining N1.424,000 from Paul Ogwuche under false pretense to transact in an online scheme called Grace Families and Friends, in violation of Section 315(1) and punishable under Section 316(b) of the Criminal Law of La, between August 19, 2021, and the present at the Saint Dominic’s Catholic Church, Yaba, in the Lagos Magisterial District.

The suspect entered a not-guilty plea to the accusations, according to the Punch article.

The case was continued to January 31, 2023, when the Magistrate, O.Y. Adefope, admitted him to bail in the amount of N300,000 with two responsible sureties in the same amount.