The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the Group Managing Director of Brass Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited, Egwuche Chinyere Gladys, over an alleged $600,000 fraud and money laundering case. This was disclosed in a post on the EFCC’s official X page on Friday.
Gladys was arraigned alongside Brass Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu, on a 12-count charge bordering on money laundering.
According to the anti-graft agency, the charges stem from allegations that the defendant, while serving as the company’s Group Managing Director, accepted cash payments amounting to $600,000 in 12 tranches between March 13 and April 11, 2023, as part payment for a 180220TPH Granite Stone Crushing Line sold to Patan Nigeria Limited and Reinforce Global Resources Limited.
The EFCC alleged that each cash payment of $50,000 exceeded the statutory threshold of N10 million and was received without passing through a financial institution, contrary to the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
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One of the charges alleged that the defendants accepted a cash payment of $50,000 on March 13, 2023, in Abakaliki in violation of Section 2(1) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, an offence punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.
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Gladys pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following her plea, EFCC counsel, Assistant Commander of the EFCC, Rotimi Enitan Ajobiewe, asked the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending trial.
However, defence counsel, Roy O. U. Nwaeze (SAN), informed the court that a bail application had already been filed and urged the court to grant his client bail.
Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo granted the defendant bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties in like sum. The court ordered that each surety must own property within the court’s jurisdiction, while the defendant was directed to deposit her international passport with the court registrar. The EFCC was also directed to verify the addresses of the sureties within seven days.
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The case was adjourned until November 11, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
