$11 Million Fraud: Obinwanne Okeke Hires Nigerian Lawyer, John Iweanoge To Lead Trial

Obinwanne Okeke, the Abuja-based businessman arrested earlier
this month for Internet fraud in the United States, has hired a new
lawyer to help fight off the criminal charges levelled against him
by American authorities.

Mr Okeke hired John Iweanoge, a Washington D.C.-based attorney
of Nigerian origin, to take over from Rahul Sharma, a public
defender, PREMIUM TIMES learnt from court documents.

Mr Sharma was appointed by a judge to stand as counsel to Mr
Okeke because the suspect did not appear with a defence lawyer at
his initial hearing on August 9.

Mr Iweanoge notified the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia later in the day on August 9 that he was
stepping in to replace Mr Sharma as Mr Okeke’s lead counsel. He
also said he had the suspect’s consent to represent him in the
trial.

Mr Iweanoge, lead attorney at The Iweanoges Firm, has been
practicing law the U.S. since 1993, according to the firm’s
website. He has been running the law firm apparently with his
family members.

In 2007, he was publicly reprimanded by the disciplinary board
of Maryland Bar for misconduct. He protested the sanction in court
and lost.

Mr Okeke, known widely in Nigeria as Invictus Obi, was remanded
in custody of the U.S. Marshall Service indefinitely after his
initial appearance before Theresa Buchanan, a magistrate. He had
been arrested days before on August 6 in Dulles, Virginia, based on
a criminal complaint filed against him by the F.B.I.

The foremost American law enforcement body had in June 2018
received complaints from Unatrac, an international subsidiary of
heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, that Mr Okeke gained
unauthorised access to the e-mail account of its chief financial
officer and authorised a series of fictitious invoices to the tune
of $11 million.

The F.B.I. also found that Mr Okeke had duped an American show
manufacturer as part of a business email compromise (BEC) schemes
that Mr Okeke and other accomplices had coordinated.

The grim options
Mr Okeke did not enter a plea at his initial arraignment on August
9, but he was remanded in custody indefinitely in accordance with
the U.S. federal laws on the nature of the criminal complaints
against him, according to Joshua Stueve, a spokesperson for the
United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of
Virginia.

Mr Stueve told our correspondent that Mr Okeke had been
presented with some options that would be decided in the coming
days, even though no judge had been appointed to try the case
proper.

“Since he was arrested on a criminal complaint, it means he
could be held in custody pending trial,” Mr Stueve said by
telephone Thursday night. “At this point, he will either plead
guilty or the U.S. will present the matter to a grand jury.”

“The jury will decide whether to return indictment or not. If
they decide to return indictment, he will be presented before a
judge to enter a plea. If he pleads guilty, he would be sentenced.
If he pleads not guilty, then a trial date will be set,” the
official added.

He also told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Okeke had been moved from
Alexandria to Norfolk, Virginia, where he would likely make his
next appearance in court upon determination of a date.

“His initial appearance was in Alexandria, but his next
appearance will be in Norfolk,” Mr Stueve said.

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