The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has brought one Igoin Peter before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged N25 million fraud linked to impersonation and obtaining money under false pretences.
Peter was arraigned on a four-count charge after he was accused of falsely presenting himself as a Special Adviser to the President on ICT Development and Digital Innovation.
The EFCC disclosed the development in a statement shared on its X handle on Tuesday, alleging that the suspect used the false identity to obtain money for a purported cryptocurrency exchange operational licence.
According to the commission, the defendant allegedly convinced companies to part with huge sums of money under the guise of facilitating the approval of cryptocurrency exchange licences.
Count one of the charge read: “That you, Igoin Tokoni Peter, sometime between 30th August, 2024 and 30th October, 2025 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court with the intent to defraud, obtained the aggregate sum of N25,941,787.00 (Twenty Five Million, Nine Hundred and Forty One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty Seven Naira) through Smartz Skyward Energy Limited account No 1312736201 domiciled with Zenith Bank from Dontown Assets Limited under the false pretense that you are the Special Assistant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on ICT Development and Digital Innovations and that the said sum will be used to secure cryptocurrency exchange operational license which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Advance Fee Fraud Act and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Count two read: “That you, Igoin Tokoni Peter, sometime between 5th September 2024 and 10 October 2025 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, with the intent to defraud, obtained the aggregate sum of N19,806,500.00 (Nineteen Million, Eight Hundred and Six Thousand, Five Hundred Naira) through Smartz Skyward Energy Limited account No. 1312736201 domiciled with Zenith Bank from Jeriod Limited, under the false pretense that you are the Special Assistant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on ICT Development and Digital Innovations and that the said sum will be used to secure cryptocurrency exchange operational license which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) of the Advanced Fee Fraud Act and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before the court.
Following the plea, prosecuting counsel, Christopher Mshelia, urged the court to fix a trial date and requested that the defendant be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the commencement of trial.
In his ruling, Justice Egwuatu granted the defendant bail in the sum of N400 million with two sureties in like sum. The court directed that both sureties must reside in Abuja, while one of them must own property and provide relevant documents, a passport photograph, and valid means of identification.
The judge further ruled that the second surety must be a Grade Level 15 civil servant who would also submit official identification and a passport photograph.
The EFCC stated that the court ordered Peter’s remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of the bail conditions. The matter was subsequently adjourned until July 16, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
