Meet Nigerian Baddest Scammer Emmanuel Nwude Who Sold A Fake Airport To An International Bank For $240Million

Emmanuel Nwude is a Nigerian notable advance-fee fraud artist and former Director of Union Bank of Nigeria. 

He is most famous for successfully defrauding a Brazilian man, Nelson Sakaguchi, a Director at Brazil’s Banco Noroeste based in São Paulo, of $242 million, $191 million in cash and the remainder in the form of outstanding interest, between 1995 and 1998.

His accomplices were Emmanuel Ofolue, Nzeribe Okoli, and Obum Osakwe, along with the husband and wife duo, Christian Ikechukwu Anajemba and Amaka Anajemba, with Christian later being assassinated. After Nick Leeson’s trading losses at Barings Bank, and the looting of the Iraqi Central Bank by Qusay Hussein, the crime was the largest in banking history. After a large-scale attack on a town in Nigeria in August 2016, Mr. Nwude was alleged to be a ringleader and was arrested on murder charges. He remains in custody.

Fraud
Nwude impersonated Paul Ogwuma, then Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and successfully convinced Sakaguchi to “invest” in a new airport in the nation’s capital, Abuja, in exchange for a $10 million commission. In August 1997, the Spanish Banco Santander wanted to take over the Banco Noroeste Brazil. The fraud was uncovered after a December 1997 joint board meeting, in which an official from Santander inquired about why a large sum of money, two-fifths of Noroeste’s total value and half of their capital, was sitting in the Cayman Islands unmonitored. This led to criminal investigations in Brazil, Britain, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United States. To guarantee the sale to Santander, the Simonsen and Cochrane families, the owners of Banco Noroeste, paid the $242 million bill themselves. However, Banco Noroeste collapsed in 2001.

During Nwude’s trial, there was a bomb scare that caused the courthouse to be evacuated. Emmanuel Nwude and Nzeribe Okoli pleaded guilty after testimony from Sakaguchi in hopes of a more lenient sentence, and were sentenced to 29 years in prison collectively, with Nwude receiving five concurrent sentences of five years, totaling 25, and Okoli receiving four. The entirety of Nwude’s assets were confiscated to be returned to the victim and a $10 million fine was imposed to be paid to the Nigerian federal government. It was the first major conviction for the EFCC. He was released from prison in 2006.
Chief Emmanuel filed a lawsuit to recover his seized assets after he was released from prison, on the grounds that some of the assets were acquired before the offense was committed. He has already reclaimed at least $167 million. As of May 8, 2015, the matter is being heard by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal.

Murder charges
On August 19, 2016, the town of Ukpo in the Dunukofia area was attacked by over 200 people, apparently due to a land dispute with the neighboring Abagana community. Four policemen were shot, and Emmanuel Okafor, a security guard at a construction site, was killed. The Anambra State Police Command alleged that Emmanuel Nwude was a ringleader, and arrested him on 27 charges including murder, attempted murder, and terrorist attacks. His case has been adjourned until January 16, 2017. He is currently being held at Awka Prison in Anambra State, where there is fear of a jailbreak due to Emmanuel Nwude’s wealth and status.