The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has refuted allegations of accepting a $107,000 bribe to influence the case against Ezekiel Oyo, who is accused of involvement in fraudulent activities.
Responding via its spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, in a statement issued on Friday, the anti-corruption agency emphasized its commitment to prosecuting Oyo for money laundering and disclosed that the suspect had absconded while on bail.
Oyewale said, “The Abuja Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested Ezekiel Joseph Oyo on April 5, 2023, at the Life Camp area of Abuja metropolis, sequel to discreet surveillance and actionable intelligence on his suspected involvement in internet fraud called picking, online romance and money laundering.
“He was introduced to the fraudulent practice through one of his friends, Bruno, based in Germany. To ply his nefarious business, he opened a wallet address with a user name, Hubert.elwood@outlook.com. Through this wallet address, he received into his blockchain a total fraudulent transaction of $3,982,260.91.
“It is a blatant lie that investigators provided sureties for him. Will sureties provided by investigators spend three weeks to perfect Oyo’s bail conditions, if indeed they were provided by them?
“The purported $107,000 ascribed to EFCC investigators is untrue and unfounded. How could a suspect who benefitted $50,000 from his transactions offer $107,000 as a bribe?
“Every wild claim made against investigators at the Abuja zonal command is mere trumped-up fabrication and should be ignored. All items recovered from him, including a Mercedes Benz C43 AMG, are in the custody of the commission.”
Oyewale further explained that following the suspect’s apprehension, investigators at the Abuja zonal command of the commission conducted a thorough background check and granted him administrative bail, with two sureties provided by Oyo himself.
“It took his sureties three weeks to meet up with some modest bail conditions offered to them and Oyo was released after the conditions were met,” he added.
He noted that investigators successfully retrieved a total of $27,000 from Oyo, and this recovery was meticulously documented and reported.
