Eze Nkechi Eze
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, on Monday, June 16, 2025, arraigned two companies FARM360 Limited and MCBHADMOS Trans-Atlantic Trade Limited before Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, for allegedly operating illegal collective investment schemes.
In an official statement released by the Commission’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, the companies were arraigned on a five-count charge for engaging in investment management operations without obtaining the necessary licenses from either the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the EFCC, the companies, between 2021 and 2022, collected a total of N80 million from multiple investors under the guise of operating agricultural and forex trading businesses. They allegedly defaulted on repayment and failed to deliver the promised returns on investment.
One of the charges reads: “That you, FARM360 LIMITED and MCBHADMOS TRANS-ATLANTIC TRADE LIMITED, sometime between 2021 and 2022 in Nigeria, within the Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, being companies incorporated in Nigeria, failed to obtain a valid licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria to carry on your business of investment management and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 and punishable under Section 57(5) of the same Act.”
A “not guilty” plea was entered on behalf of the companies during the court session.
Following the plea, the prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, called Nnadikwu Izuchukwu Collins, an EFCC investigator, to present the facts of the case.
Collins informed the court that the Commission had received a petition on October 21, 2022, from a group of investors alleging that both companies had lured them with claims of being involved in agriculture and forex trading, offering attractive returns on investment.
He stated that the group had invested a total of N93 million with the defendants, who failed to honour their commitments.
During the investigation, Collins said letters were dispatched to the SEC, CBN, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and several banks. Responses revealed that FARM360 and MCBHADMOS Trans-Atlantic Trade Limited were not licensed to operate in the investment or forex trading space in Nigeria.
Collins also told the court that bank records from Fidelity Bank confirmed that the N80 million collected from investors had been used for personal purposes by the companies’ directors. He added that all directors are currently at large, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend them.
The prosecution then sought and received permission to tender in evidence the petition, the bank statements from Fidelity Bank, and official correspondence and responses from the CAC, CBN, and SEC. Justice Dipeolu admitted the documents and marked them as exhibits.
The case has been adjourned to July 8, 2025, for continuation of trial.
