Two brothers, Cypril Nwalaezi and Smart Nwalaezi, have been taken to court by the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. They appeared before Justice S. D. Pam at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt for property fraud.
A statement on the EFCC’s X page on Friday said the brothers were charged on Thursday. They face five counts of conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretenses, amounting to N3,200,000.
One of the charges states, “That you, Cypril Nwalaezi on or about the 17th of October, 2022 at Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud and by false pretence that you had valid and subsisting title to a parcel of land, situated at Umuasukpo Farm Road, in Igbo-Etche in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, measuring 1150.805 and 1295.771 square metres.
“You also induced Mr. Franklin Nwachukwu to purchase the same and obtained the sum of N2,750,000.00 from Mr. Franklin Nwachukwu and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(b) & (c) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Another charge states, “That you, Smart Chinedu Nwalaezi on or about the third day of November, 2022 at Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud and by false pretence that you had valid and subsisting title to a parcel of land, situated at Umuasukpo Farm Road, Igbo-Etche in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, measuring an area of 467.912 sq/m, induced Mr. Franklin Nwachukwu to purchase the same and obtained the sum of N450,000 from Mr. Franklin Nwachukwu and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(b) & (c) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Both Cypril and Smart pleaded “not guilty.” After this, prosecution lawyer C. Okorie requested a trial date and asked the court to keep them in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The lawyer for the first defendant, R. O. Agbabo, told the court about a bail application for her client and asked for bail to help him prepare for trial.
The lawyer for the second defendant, M. M. Nweke, also informed the court of his bail application and asked the court to grant bail on easy terms for his client to prepare for trial.
“Justice Pam granted bail to Cypril Nwalaezi, the first defendant, in the sum of N500,000 with a surety in the same amount, who must own land and live in Port Harcourt. He granted bail to the second defendant, Smart, in the sum of N50,000 with a surety in the same amount and ordered that both defendants be kept in Port Harcourt Correctional Centre until they meet their bail conditions.
“The court set the next hearing for September 17, 2026, to start the trial. The case began in June 2024 when their victim, Nwachukwu, reported to the commission, claiming fraud after discovering in December 2023 that the same properties he bought were resold by the brothers to other buyers.
“An investigation found that the brothers conspired and resold both properties for N3,200,000 to other buyers,” the statement added.
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