Court Orders Further Investigation As EFCC Moves Ugwuonye To Abuja

Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye

The spokesman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Femi Babafemi, told Naija News Desk that the agency has obtained a court order allowing it to further detain the US-based lawyer, Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye who was arrested last weekend in Lagos for fraud-related matters.

The anti-corruption agency is investigating how Mr. Ugwuonye handled the proceeds from the sale of several properties belonging to the Nigerian embassy in Washington, DC.

Mr. Babafemi disclosed that Mr. Ugwuonye, who was being held in Lagos, would board a 3:00 p.m. flight to Abuja accompanied by the team leader at the EFCC handling the investigation into his transactions. The EFCC spokesman could not reveal what information the agency had so far obtained from Mr. Ugwuonye regarding the $1.6 million in tax refunds due the embassy but which the lawyer pocketed.

A source at the EFCC’s detention facility in Lagos told Naija News Desk that Mr. Ugwuonye “is like an actor playing the part of a legal counselor,” adding that the detained lawyer told fellow detainees that he was duped by an unnamed official who gave him the right to pocket the money that led to his arrest and detention. He claimed that the official had removed the official copy of the agreement from the "government file folders" after he refused to share the money with the said official.

Apart from his legal troubles in Nigeria, Mr. Ugwuonye is also facing professional misconduct inquiries launched by the Maryland Attorney Grievances Commission. The commission is looking into allegations that the Harvard-educated attorney took his clients’ monies without authorization. In addition, the commission is investigating allegations that Mr. Ugwuonye was representing the Nigerian government while on suspension for an unrelated professional misconduct case in Maryland.