Na Waooo!!! Fake lawyer arraigned by the EFCC for scamming client of N7m

A secondary school certificate holder who has been parading himself as a lawyer and defrauding unsuspecting people of their money has been nabbed and charged to court by the EFCC

An impostor who has been parading himself as a lawyerand defrauding unsuspecting people of huge sums of money, ThamkGod Okachi Echem, has been arrested and charged to a court in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for allegedly scamming a 'client' of the sum of N7 million.

Also Read: "Busted!: Fake lawyer who stole N6m from victims in police net"

The suspect who confessed during interrogation that he is just a Secondary School Certificate holder,  was nabbed following a petition written against him by one Jonny Wali, who alleged that he was defrauded of the sum after he was awarded a compensation by a Rivers State High Court, in a legal battle involving him and the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), now Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC).

In the petition, Wali noted that he had sued the PHEDC in a matter bordering on land trespass before Justice W.A.Chey-Chey of the Rivers State High Court and was awarded the sum of N10 million as  compensation, but however, the company failed to pay the compensation to him.

So in seeking redress for the payment of the money, he employed the legal services of Echem and another accomplice,Felix Agbarake, who both run a legal outfit, Thank God/ Felix & Co. Norugema Chambers.

After a lengthy battle, the court ruled in his favour in 2015, and granted another sum of N8 million to him as the accumulated interest on the initial amount of N10 million granted as compensation by the court.

The total sum of N18 million was then paid by PHEDC to him through Echem's chambers but the matter took a different coloration when the suspect refused to remit the said amount and during investigations, it was discovered that Echem was a fake lawyer and he and his accomplice had connived and opened an account with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), in the name of Wali, without his consent where the money was paid into and cashed.

When Echem was confronted with these facts, he owned up and confessed that he was just a school certificate holder posturing as a lawyer.  A search conducted in his house yielded some incriminating documents including a wig and robe belonging to him and he was arrested and charged to court.