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By Abdullahi Abubakar
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Monday, arraigned two companies, FARM360 Limited and MCBHADMOS Trans-Atlantic Trade Limited, for allegedly operating illegal capital market investment schemes.
They were arraigned the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of EFCC before Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to a statement posted on Tuesday by the anti-graft agency via its official X handle, the companies were brought before the court on a five-count charge bordering on the operation of collective investment schemes without obtaining the necessary regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The EFCC alleged that between 2021 and 2022, the firms collected a total sum of N80 million from unsuspecting investors under the pretense of engaging in agricultural ventures and forex trading, but failed to refund the investments or pay any returns as promised.
One of the charges read in court stated,”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.
Following the arraignment, the prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, called Nnadikwu Izuchukwu Collins, an EFCC investigator, to present the facts of the case.
Collins told the court that a group of investors submitted a petition to the EFCC on October 21, 2022, against FARM360 and MCBHADMOS Trans-Atlantic Trade Limited, alleging that the companies lured them into investing in agriculture and forex with “mouth-watering promises of returns on investments.”
He disclosed that the group collectively invested N93 million with the firms.
“In the course of investigations, letters of investigation activities were sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), respectively,” Collins said.
He added,”Responses were received from the above institutions and were analyzed accordingly.
“The response from SEC and CBN revealed that the defendants, FARM360 and MCBHADMOS Trans-Atlantic Trade Limited, are not licensed to deal in investment and forex trading business in Nigeria.”
Collins also told the court that information from Fidelity Bank showed the N80 million collected from investors was used for personal purposes, not for the investment business as promised.
He said all the directors of the companies have gone into hiding and that the EFCC is working to find and arrest them.
The EFCC then presented some documents as evidence in court.
These included the bank statement from Fidelity Bank, the petition from the investors, and letters exchanged with the SEC, CBN, and CAC.
Justice Dipeolu accepted the documents and marked them as official exhibits in the case.
The case was adjourned till July 8, 2025, for continuation of trial.
