Joseph Bakare
Justice S.I. Mark of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ordered the remand of Julie Akue Onwuegbu and her husband, Wisdom Onwuegbu in Port Harcourt Correctional Centre for land fraud.
The couple was arraigned on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 by the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a three-count charge bordering on advance fee fraud and obtaining money under false pretence to the tune of N10 million.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Julie Akue Owuegbu and Wisdom Onwuegbu between 11th April, 2024 and 15th April, 2024 at Port Harcourt within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira, only) from one Mr. Taofik Bello under the pretence of transferring and holding yourself as the rightful owner of a plot of land, situated at Queen Park Estate, (Royal Park Estate), Ohia Eli-Mini, Eneka in, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, the pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (b) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
They pleaded “not guilty,” following which prosecution counsel, I. Igwu asked the court for a trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in Port Harcourt Correctional Centre, while the defence counsel, Igwe Okoronkwo, informed the court of a pending bail application of the defendants before the court and urged the court to admit them to bail to enable them prepare adequately for their defence.
Justice Mark ordered the remand of the couple in the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre and adjourned till July 10, 2026 for ruling on their bail application.
The couple’s journey to the Correctional centre began with a petition on November, 2024, in which the petitioner alleged that one Enitan Joseph, sometime in April, 2024, introduced him to the first defendant, Julie Onwuegbu, with a claim that she had a piece of land to sell in Queens Park Estate, Eneka, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. With the price agreed on N10 million, payments were made to the defendant in two instalments of N1million and N9 million, respectively into her Eco Bank and First Bank accounts.
The petitioner further alleged that the defendant provided him with a signed Deed of Conveyance as an authority for him to have access to the property but that his attempt to develop the land was stopped by someone who claimed ownership of it. Further in his petition, he alleged that the first defendant could not do anything to resolve the matter and that when further enquiries were made on the land, it was discovered that the first defendant did not own any land in the estate.
Investigation further revealed that the first defendant transferred part of the proceeds of her alleged crime to her husband’s company account. And that all efforts by the petitioner to either recover the land or his money proved abortive.