How Jude Okoye, ex-P-Square manager laundered N1.38bn – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed how Jude Okoye, the former manager of P-Square and his firm, Northside Music Ltd, allegedly laundered a staggering ₦1.38 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.

Okoye has been arraigned on charges by the EFCC in connection with these illicit financial transactions, which are now at the center of a high-profile investigation into his alleged involvement in large-scale money laundering activities.

In a seven-count charge filed before Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court, Lagos,  the anti-graft agency  said in 2022, Jude Okoye and Northside Music Ltd acquired a prime piece of real estate, a landed property located at No 5, Tony Eromosele Street, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, valued at ₦850,000,000 (eight hundred and fifty million naira). The EFCC claims that Okoye knew or should have reasonably known that the funds used to purchase the property were proceeds from unlawful activities, making the transaction a violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

In another charge, the EFCC alleges that Okoye, again working with Northside Music Ltd, engaged in a scheme to covert large sums of foreign currency into the naira equivalent using a bureau de change. The sum of $1,019,762.87 (over one million dollars) was allegedly moved through Access Bank Plc, where Northside Music Ltd held an account. The EFCC claims that Okoye and his associates remitted these funds into various bank accounts to conceal the source, further supporting their case of money laundering, which is also a violation of the Money Laundering Act.

These allegations have thrust Okoye and his business into a high-stakes legal battle, with the EFCC determined to hold him accountable for his alleged involvement in concealing and laundering illicit funds.