A Federal Excessive Courtroom sitting in Lagos has remanded a Lagos-based businessman, Adesiyan Kayode Olayinka.
That is over an alleged N230 million international change funding fraud mentioned to have concerned using Synthetic Intelligence (AI) to clone the picture of former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Olayinka was on Wednesday arraigned earlier than Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on a six-count cost filed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, bordering on conspiracy, acquiring cash by false pretence, fraudulent commercial and stealing, in line with Come up Information.
What the courtroom is saying
The alleged offences are mentioned to contravene provisions of the Advance Payment Fraud and Different Associated Offences Act, 2016, in addition to the Legal Code Act.
The fees have been learn to the defendant in open courtroom, to which he pleaded not responsible on all counts.
Following the plea, counsel to the prosecution requested the courtroom to repair a particular trial date and urged that the defendant be remanded within the custody of the Nigeria Correctional Service pending the dedication of the case. In response, defence counsel knowledgeable the courtroom {that a} bail software had already been filed and served on the prosecution, and urged the courtroom to listen to the movement.
When Justice Aneke sought the prosecution’s place on the bail request, the prosecutor indicated no objection to the applying however requested that the courtroom guarantee a transparent timeline for trial.
Whereas transferring the bail software, defence counsel informed the courtroom that the movement, dated February 17, 2026, was supported by a 16-paragraph affidavit sworn to by the defendant’s spouse.
He appealed to the courtroom to grant bail on liberal phrases, arguing that the defendant would make himself out there for trial.
Extra particulars
It was additional alleged that the defendant obtained, at numerous instances, a complete sum of N230 million from a complainant, Mr. Fredrick Amaechi, beneath the guise of a foreign currency trading partnership with the purported agency. The funds have been reportedly paid into bank accounts operated with a number of monetary establishments, together with FCMB, Sterling Bank and Ecobank.
Prosecutors additionally alleged that Olayinka deployed AI know-how to clone Peter Obi’s picture on his Fb web page, presenting the previous presidential candidate as being affiliated with the platform with a view to lure buyers. The defendant was accused of changing the funds to non-public use with out conducting any foreign currency trading as represented.
With the ruling on bail adjourned, the defendant will stay in custody on the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the courtroom’s determination on February 25, 2026.
Backstory
The remand of Adesiyan Kayode Olayinka aligns with Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke’s current dealing with of main monetary crime circumstances.
In June 2025, the Federal Excessive Courtroom decide, sitting in Ikoyi, ordered the remand of alleged Ponzi scheme operator Adonu Kingsley Ifeanyi over a N10 billion cash laundering case. Ifeanyi was arraigned by the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC) on 5 counts.
The EFCC accused the defendant of unlawfully acquiring funds from the general public by an funding scheme, reinforcing the courtroom’s robust stance on large-scale monetary fraud circumstances.
What it’s best to know
In a short ruling, Justice Aneke ordered that Olayinka be remanded on the Ikoyi facility of the Nigeria Correctional Service and adjourned ruling on the bail software to February 25, 2026.
- In keeping with the prosecution, the alleged offences have been dedicated between July and October 2025 at addresses on Sule Avenue, Mangoro, Ikeja, Lagos, throughout the jurisdiction of the Federal Excessive Courtroom.
- The prosecution alleged that Olayinka, alongside others nonetheless at massive, conspired to acquire cash by false pretence by using cloned photographs and promotional supplies falsely portraying Peter Obi as a beneficiary or endorser of a foreign currency trading and funding platform recognized as Modmut Worldwide.
