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ABUJA – Two brothers, Cypril Nwalaezi and Smart Chinedu Nwalaezi, were on Thursday arraigned before the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N3.2 million land fraud involving the purported resale of properties to multiple buyers.
The defendants appeared before Justice S. D. Pam on an amended five-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretence.
The EFCC alleged that the brothers falsely represented themselves as having valid title to the disputed parcels of land, thereby inducing a buyer to part with millions of naira.
According to the charge, Count Two reads: “That you, Cypril Nwalaezi on or about the 17th October, 2022 at Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud and by false pretence that you had valid and subsisting title to a parcel of land situated at Umuasukpo Farm Road, Igbo-Etche in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, induced Mr. Franklin Nwachukwu to purchase the same and obtained the sum of N2,750,000.00 from him.”
The EFCC alleged that the offence is contrary to Section 1(1)(b) and (c) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
Another count alleges: “That you, Smart Chinedu Nwalaezi on or about the 3rd day of November, 2022 at Port Harcourt… with intent to defraud and by false pretence that you had valid and subsisting title to a parcel of land situated at Umuasukpo Farm Road, Igbo-Etche, induced Mr. Franklin Nwachukwu to purchase the same and obtained the sum of N450,000.00 from him.”
When the charges were read to them, both defendants pleaded “not guilty.”
Following their pleas, prosecution counsel, C. Okorie, urged the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendants in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the hearing of the case.
Counsel to the first defendant, R. O. Agbabo, informed the court that a bail application had already been filed on behalf of Cypril Nwalaezi and urged the court to admit him to bail to enable him prepare his defence.
Similarly, counsel to the second defendant, M. M. Nweke, applied for bail for Smart Chinedu Nwalaezi, asking the court to grant him bail on liberal terms pending trial.
Justice Pam admitted Cypril Nwalaezi to bail in the sum of N500,000 with one surety in like sum, who must own landed property and reside in Port Harcourt.
Smart Chinedu Nwalaezi was also granted bail in the sum of N50,000 with one surety in like amount.
The judge, however, ordered that both defendants be remanded at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre pending the fulfilment of their respective bail conditions.
He subsequently adjourned the case until September 17, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
The prosecution arose from a petition submitted to the EFCC by the complainant, Franklin Nwachukwu, in June 2024.
Nwachukwu alleged that he discovered in December 2023 that the same parcels of land he had purchased from the defendants had been resold to other buyers.
According to the Commission, investigations established that the defendants allegedly conspired to resell the disputed properties to multiple purchasers, leading to the alleged fraudulent transactions valued at N3.2 million and culminating in their prosecution.
