Aide to EFCC Chairman Jailed Over Employment Scam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured the conviction of one Obochi Simeon Iwodi, who alleged paraded himself as Special Adviser to the Commission’s Chairman to defraud job seekers, before Justice A.O. Musa of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja on a one count charge bordering on cheating by impersonation.

While posing as Special Adviser to the EFCC Chairman, the defendant induced some job seekers to pay various sums to him on the pretext that he would help facilitate their employment into the EFCC.

The count reads, “That you, Obochi Simeon Iwodi, between August 2020 and August 2021 within the Judicial Division of the Federal Territory High Court, Abuja did cheat by pretending to be the Special Adviser (SA) to Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC carried out an illegal act by inducing one Abah Job Ebute and others to deliver to you the aggregate sum of N1,800,000 (One Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira) under the guise that you are capable of giving them employment in EFCC, a fact you know to be false and you thereby committed an offence of Cheating by Personation contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation (Abuja), 1990 and punishable under Section 324 of the same Law.”

He pleaded guilty to the charge.

In view of his guilty plea, Justice Musa sentenced Iwodi, who had restituted his victims in full, to one year in prison with an option of N700,000 fine.