The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Afriq Arbitrage System Limited, Jesam Michael Ubi, has been remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre over what prosecutors describe as a large-scale investment fraud that spans multiple currencies and implicates over 50,000 Nigerians.
This follows a Federal High Court decision in Abuja to reject his bail application yet again.
Michael is facing seven criminal charges bordering on illegal financial operations, money laundering, and fraud, offences that prosecutors say led to investor losses amounting to $844,416.36, $10,000, and ₦590 million.
These transactions, according to court filings, were allegedly conducted without regulatory approval or appropriate financial licences.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which is prosecuting the case, alleges that between September 2022 and June 2023, Michael promoted and managed an investment scheme that operated outside the framework of Nigerian financial law.
He allegedly ran Afriq Arbitrage System as a digital platform offering arbitrage investment opportunities, falsely guaranteeing high daily returns to unsuspecting investors.
Court documents say Michael and his company were neither licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, they received vast deposits from individuals lured through aggressive online campaigns.
In one charge, Afriq Arbitrage CEO is accused of laundering ₦590 million, part of which was traced to proceeds from the sale of properties linked to another suspect. The EFCC claims that the money originated from unlawful activity.
The Commission also alleges that Michael induced an individual named Ladi Musa Audu to invest $844,416.36 USDT into the platform in 2022, promising safety and ease of withdrawal.
Another investor, Sir Augustine E. Ibolo, reportedly lost $10,000 under the same scheme in February 2023. Both representations, prosecutors insist, were knowingly false.
Quote from Charge Sheet:
“That you, JESAM MICHAEL UBI, and AFRIQ ARBITRAGE SYSTEM LIMITED, sometime in 2022 in Abuja, with intent to defraud, induced Ladi Musa Audu to deposit the sum of $844,416.36 USDT into the Afriq Arbitrage System investment scheme, under the false representation that the investment was safe and refundable upon request. You knew this representation to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Court Rejects Bail Again
On Tuesday, before Justice Obiora Egwuatu, the charges were formally read out. Michael entered a not-guilty plea. His counsel, Uchenna Njoku SAN, argued that his client was previously granted administrative bail by the EFCC, had no criminal record, and should be granted bail on “liberal terms.”
He claimed the issue originated from a former staff member who allegedly siphoned investors’ funds by gaining access to the company’s crypto wallet. That matter, he said, is already before a different court.
EFCC’s counsel, Martha Babatunde, opposed the bail request. She revealed that more victims continue to file petitions and warned the court that Michael had attempted to flee the country before his arrest.
“That further to paragraph 3 (1), the Commission is still receiving other petitions against the Applicant and investigation has revealed that there are over 50,000 investors into the Applicant’s failed investment scheme,” her affidavit stated.
Justice Egwuatu ruled that although the constitution guarantees the right to bail, the magnitude of the case and its potential impact on public confidence in financial investments outweighed Michael’s plea.
“It is in the best interest of the country and affected investors to refuse the defendant bail,” the judge ruled.
The court scheduled the trial to begin on 20 June 2025 and ordered that Afriq Arbitrage CEO be held in Kuje Correctional Centre in the meantime. This decision reiterates an earlier ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite, who denied bail in May, stating that the arraignment must come before any consideration for release.
With the EFCC receiving petitions from new victims, the agency is preparing to call witnesses from CBN, SEC, and several banks to establish that Michael was operating an unlicensed financial business.
The case, in both its scale and implications, stands out as one of Nigeria’s largest crypto-related fraud cases.
