Court Remands Three in Ibadan Over Alleged N30m Visa Fraud

Three individuals have been remanded in custody at the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan following their arraignment on separate charges of alleged Canadian visa fraud totaling over 30 million naira. The defendants, Emmanuel Serah Motunrayo, Awotunde Olugbenga, and Idowu Olugbemi Sunday, appeared before Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court in proceedings initiated by the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The cases involve two distinct alleged schemes. In the first, Motunrayo and Olugbenga face a 47-count charge. The EFCC alleges they fraudulently obtained a combined total of 23,404,600 naira from two victims, Oluwatobi Adeoluwa Iyanda and Oyewale Tunji Bello. The commission claims the pair presented themselves as travel and immigration agents based in Abuja who could secure Canadian visas and travel arrangements. After collecting the funds, they allegedly failed to deliver the promised services. The charges further allege that the defendants produced and presented forged Canadian visa documents to the victims, purporting them to be genuine government-issued papers.

In a separate proceeding, Idowu Olugbemi Sunday...