Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate, has arraigned Precious Williams over her alleged involvement in fraud and money laundering scheme.
Precious Williams, the Director of Glossolalia Nigeria Ltd
and Pelenged Nigeria Ltd, was arraigned on Monday, June 16, before S.I. Mark,
Justice of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
She was docked on a 14-count charge bordering on conspiracy,
advance fee fraud, obtaining money under false pretences, and laundering
proceeds of unlawful activity.
The charges stem from a large-scale investment scam
allegedly orchestrated between 2019 and 2020, involving MBA Trading and Capital
Investment Limited (MBA TCIL) and its promoters.
The EFCC alleges that Williams played a key role in the
movement and concealment of illicit funds fraudulently obtained from thousands
of unsuspecting investors under the guise of high-yield investment
schemes.
According to the EFCC, one of the charges reads: “That you,
Precious Williams of Glossolalia Nigeria Limited; Pelegend Nigeria Limited,
Phenom 413 Events Limited (company representative at large), and Doxasterz Oil
and Gas Limited, sometime between the 24th day of August, 2019 and 15th day of
February, 2020, at Port Harcourt, took possession of the sum of Ten Billion
Naira (N10,000,000,000.00), from Maxwell Chizi Odum (still at large) and MBA
Trading and Capital Investment Limited, when you reasonably ought to have known
that the said funds formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activities under
the pretext that it was for investment purposes that would yield 10% to 15%
interest per month.”
Another charge noted how Williams, through Pelegend Nigeria
Ltd’s account with Polaris Bank, allegedly received N1.005 billion from MBA
TCIL between December 2019 and November 2020—again under circumstances
suggesting that the funds were proceeds of fraudulently obtained investments.
The EFCC maintains that the defendant ought to have known
that the funds she received and processed were linked to the fraudulent
activities of Maxwell Chizi Odum, founder of MBA TCIL, who is still at large,
and that these funds were siphoned from over 3,000 victims across Nigeria.
Williams pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges.
Prosecution counsel E.K. Bakam consequently applied for a
trial date and requested that she be remanded in custody pending the
determination of her bail.
However, Tochukwu Maduka, her counsel, Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), informed the court of an already filed bail application and
urged the court to grant her bail to enable adequate preparation for
trial.
Bakam opposed the bail application, arguing that it was
premature since it was filed before the amended charges were served and before
Williams’ formal arraignment.
He urged the court to insist on a fresh application.
Mark, in his ruling, ordered that Williams be remanded at
the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre and adjourned the matter until June 17,
2025, for hearing of the bail application.
According to the EFCC, the charges follow multiple petitions
received from victims who claimed that Williams and MBA TCIL deceived the
public into investing in a scheme that promised monthly returns of 10% to
15%.
The funds, said to have reached billions of naira, were
allegedly diverted without fulfilling the promised returns or refunding
investors’ capital.
The EFCC stated that investigations traced a significant
portion of the laundered funds through corporate accounts controlled by
Williams, with no corresponding records of legitimate investment
activity.
Williams was arrested in April 2021 following mounting
complaints from defrauded investors, many of whom said they were convinced to
invest after seeing aggressive advertisements and endorsements across social
media and offline marketing channels.
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