₦airaland Forum

Alleged $11mn Fraud: Obinwanne Okeke accuses F.B.I. of illegally searching his phones, laptops

Obinwanne Okeke, the 32-year-old Nigerian arrested in the United States last August, has accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation of accessing his mobile phones and laptops illegally, a development he said was enough ground for the charges against him to be dismissed.

Mr Okeke, through his lawyers, said in a preliminary objection filed in the U.S. court in December that his phones were seized by the F.B.I. agents that arrested him and searched without proper procedure.

The lawyers said when Mr Okeke was arrested at the airport while waiting to depart for Nigeria in August 2019, federal agents asked him to unlock his iPhone and Macbook Pro without first reading him his Miranda rights. The rights involve telling a suspect under arrest they have the right to remain silent and not cooperate with authorities, especially when the suspect has not contacted a lawyer.

Mr Okeke’s lawyers, The Iweanoges Firm, said the Nigerian businessman was not told he had a right not to provide passwords to his devices to F.B.I. or other American authorities, which made him assume he had no choice but to give them the codes.

In the preliminary objection, the lawyers further argued that all evidence obtained from Mr Okeke’s phones and laptops should fall under the ‘fruit of the poisonous tree’ doctrine and subsequently removed from admissible evidence in court during trial.

In the December 15, 2019 filing, the Iweanoges Firm said the F.B.I. held on to Mr Okeke’s devices for more than two weeks after they arrested him and allegedly coerced him to release their passwords before obtaining a court warrant to search them.

This procedural mishap should render any evidence obtained from the devices useless, they said.

In their response, filed on January 24 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where Mr Okeke is facing two counts of computer and wire fraud, the prosecutors said the defence lawyers were being frivolous with their allegations.

They said Mr Okeke was read his Miranda rights at about 11:35 p.m. on August 6, 2016, moments after he was taken into custody at the Washington Dulles International Airport and handed over to the F.B.I. airport command.

The prosecutors said Mr Okeke was informed he could remain silent, but he willingly agreed to let authorities search his devices by providing passwords to them.

The prosecutors further argued that even if it were true that Mr Okeke was not read his Miranda rights as his lawyers claimed, the evidence collected from his phone cannot be dismissed because they only corroborated evidence already collected in the year-long investigation into his alleged involvement in the $11 million fraud.

They also said since Mr Okeke is an educated adult with both undergraduate and graduate degrees, who has travelled extensively across the world over the years, then it cannot be argued that he did not know the implication of submitting his passwords for federal agents to collect information.

Mr Okeke became a prime person of interest after F.B.I. received complaints from Caterpillar, an American heavy equipment manufacturer, that some unscrupulous individuals had swindled its U.K. subsidiary, Unatrac, of $11 million. The fraud was allegedly committed through business email compromise, a trending fraudulent scheme involving the use of a company email to spoof other officials in the same organisation.

The F.B.I. said months of investigation exposed Mr Okeke as the principal suspect that executed the fraud. The agency later obtained a warrant for his arrest when he visited the U.S. and was about to return to Nigeria on August 6, 2019.

A few days after his arrest, Mr Okeke was indicted by a grand jury of committing the fraud based on preliminary evidence submitted by the F.B.I. But he later argued that he was not guilty, dragging the matter to trial.

A judge had previously fixed February 18 for the commencement of trial in the matter, but it was adjourned after preliminary objections from the defence team forced both parties to seek another date. Mr Okeke, however, remained in custody.

Ahead of the February 18 date initially scheduled for commencement of trial, the defence team began raising preliminary objections to get the matter dismissed and for Mr Okeke to return to Nigeria.

In the first objection, they argued that the F.B.I. had no powers to arrest Mr Okeke because he did not commit the offence on American soil. They also said no American victim, either as individuals or groups, was identified by authorities.

But prosecutors dismissed the lack of jurisdiction argument as frivolous because Mr Okeke visited the U.S. and stayed in Virginia during the period he allegedly committed the $11 million fraud, which spanned several months.

They also said more victims who are Americans may still be introduced during trial, saying their indictment filing was only to show enough grounds for a judge to issue a warrant for Mr Okeke to be arrested.

The second defence argument bordering on coercion of Mr Okeke was also rejected by the prosecutor. But both parties agreed that the court should approve additional time for preliminary matters to be resolved and Mr Okeke to remain in custody until trial evential begins.

TooMuchStuff:

This is not News. It's just the regular life in naija

The national grid on Thursday experienced its first collapse in 2020 resulting in blackout across the country.

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) confirmed the development in a statement on its Twitter page.

“There was system disturbance which occurred at about 12.34 p.m affecting some parts of the country.

“As at 1:10 p.m, supply was restored to Abuja and most parts of the affected areas. TCN is still working to completely restore and stabilise the nation’s grid,” it said.

Ikeja Electric (IE) which also confirmed the grid collapse in a statement on its Twitter account, said another collapse of the grid occurred at 2.15 p.m after the previous incident.

“Dear customers, the outage you are experiencing is due to a system collapse of the grid which occurred this afternoon at 12:36 p.m. All parts of IE’s network are affected.

“Another system collapse was recorded at 2.15 p.m today. Restoration efforts are ongoing. Kindly bear with us,” the electricity distribution company said.

A first Champions League trophy in 14 years, lifting the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in their history and building an astonishing lead at the top of the Premier League table this season made last year one that will live long in the memory of Reds fans.

But while last year may be done and dusted, there are still plenty of records to chase.
Jurgen Klopp's merry men are riding a sizeable wave and it shows no signs of slowing down. A 13 point lead at the top of the Premier League table with a game-in-hand puts the Reds in a commanding position as they bid to lift the illusive Premier League trophy.

The thought of retaining the Champions League isn't a bad one and, with others across Europe enduring their relative falls from graces, it isn't a ridiculous one either.

The only way is up for Liverpool at the moment and with that in mind, here are some of the records they can break between now and the end of the season.

1. Best Start After 21 Games
​If ​Liverpool can find a way to beat a Harry Kane-less ​Tottenham at the weekend, the Reds will have the made the best start any Premier League side has made after 21 matches. The record is currently held by competitors Manchester City who earned 59 points from their first 21 games back in 2017/18.

Liverpool only need a draw away at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to match that tally, but three points would see them snatch the Sky Blues' record.

2. Most Consecutive Premier League Wins
Unsurprisingly, the current record of 18 consecutive victories was set by Manchester City, and Guardiola. The Citizens managed this feat from August to December in 2017, something that previously hadn't been achieved in the ​Premier League era.

However, the Reds have the opportunity to claim another Guardiola record. Currently sat on 11 straight wins, Liverpool will need to win their next nine matches to surpass City, eventually claiming the record away to Watford on 29 February. While it may seem unlikely, the Reds have won 19 of their 20 matches so far this term, so eight more isn't too hard, surely?

3. Most Consecutive Home Wins
Anfield has been a fortress for some time now, with the Reds having not lost a Premier League game at home since April 2017. Yet again, the record is held by City who won 20 consecutive games on their own patch during the 2011/12 season.

The Reds currently find themselves two short of that mark, with home games against bitter rivals Manchester United, Southampton and West Ham coming up in their next three at Anfield. If Klopp's side can win all three games, they would set another impressive milestone.

4. Most Away Wins in a Season
This will be a tricky one indeed. The Reds will have to win all but one of their remaining away games this season to steal this one off ​Man City - including a trip to the Etihad in April. Liverpool have won eight of their nine away league matches this term, only dropping points to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

If the European champions could secure victories in nine of their ten remaining games on the road, they would have claimed 17 victories on their travels, one more than Man City achieved in 2017/18.

5.Most Home Wins in a Season
​If you're noticing by now that the Reds can pretty much claim every Premier League record, then you're more or less right.

Liverpool have won 11 home games this season - that's all of them by the way - meaning they can surpass the current record of 18 home wins in a season. Three teams have managed this including Chelsea, Man United and Manchester City twice during the Premier League era.

This means Klopp and his team will have to win all their remaining home games to break the record but when you consider the home games they have left are against Manchester United, Southampton, West Ham, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Burnley and Chelsea, it doesn't seem like an impossibility.

6. Most Wins in a Season
​Now this one seems a little more realistic. Liverpool have currently won 19 games this Premier League season, meaning that if they can be victorious in 14 of their 18 remaining matches, then they will break Man City's record of 32.

Given the Reds have only failed to win one league game all term, they can afford to drop points in four more matches and still achieve the feat.

7. The Invincibles (Mark 2)
Disclaimer: Liverpool cannot claim the record for being the only team to go a Premier League season undefeated.

However, the Reds can match ​Arsenal's 'Invincibles' season of 2003/04 if they avoid defeat in any of their remaining games. While the Gunners seemingly have found little joy in this campaign, maybe beating Liverpool at the Emirates to maintain their record would be enough to earn Mikel Arteta a knighthood.

8. Longest Time Unbeaten
While the Reds cannot surpass Arsenal's unbeaten record, they can still steal a title off the north London club.

Liverpool have gone over a calendar year unbeaten since losing to Man City in January 2019. If they can continue this unbeaten record until the end of the season, Liverpool will overtake the Gunners for the most days without defeat in the Premier League. Arsenal currently have the record at 537 days, something Liverpool can surpass on 23 June 2020.

9. Most Points in a Premier League Season
Having not lost a single game this campaign, Liverpool are strong favourites to claim this record too. Man City are the holders of this feat with a whopping 100 points earned in the 2017/18 season, somehow only three points clear of the Reds' total from last season, despite Klopp's side not winning the league.

If Liverpool win all their remaining games then they would smash the record, claiming a staggering and unprecedented 112 points. However, Liverpool could afford to lose three and draw one of their remaining 18 matches and still surpass City's tally.

10. First Premier League Trophy
​Of course Liverpool will not be the first team to win the Premier League, but it will be the first time they have lifted the trophy. It has eluded the Reds for what feels like an eternity, and is the prize craved most on Merseyside by far.

The Reds are on course to achieve this, and in some style too, but many in Liverpool won't be counting their chickens just yet.

PrecisionFx:
Nope, he's not chasing the wind.

It is not impossible for irregular elections to be cancelled in Nigeria. Let him fulfil his rights n go home if he loses. He knows all the possible outcomes to this.

PrecisionFx:
Allow him to fulfil his rights.

He knows everything already.