The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday granted N500 million bail to Usie Otukpa Osang in an AUD$8,427,330.83 and US$3,639,462.00 alleged crypto fraud case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Obiora Egwuatu granted the defendant bail, agreeing with the applicant’s legal team that he had placed sufficient documents before the court to warrant bail.
Recall that the EFCC, on June 29, 2026, arraigned him on an eight-count charge bordering on impersonation and obtaining by false pretence. The defendant denied the allegations and sought bail on liberal terms.
Passing his ruling on the application, Justice Egwuatu held that when it comes to the issue of granting bail, the court shall consider several criteria, including the criminal record of the suspect, the nature of the offence, and whether the defendant is likely to jump bail.
He said when a person is arrested or detained, the person shall be entitled to bail in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, except where sufficient grounds are cited to oppose the bail application.
He observed that the EFCC still found the applicant worthy of administrative bail during its investigation, even as he deposited his international passport with the Commission.
The judge held that the evidence before him showed that “
the prosecution did not deny the fact”
that the applicant did not breach the terms of the administrative bail granted to him by the Commission.
He added that so long as such facts “are not denied” by the Commission, the applicant’s evidence amounts to the correct position.
The judge observed that the applicant claimed he no longer had access to his cryptocurrency account and that “
this fact was not controverted by the EFCC.”
Consequently, the judge ruled that N500 million bail be granted to the defendant with two sureties in like sum, and ordered the sureties to provide evidence of tax payments.
He said one of the sureties must own a property in Abuja, and the value of the property must align with the N500 million bail sum.
The judge held that the second surety must be a civil servant not below Level 15, while the defendant must deposit his international passport with the court registrar.
The case was then adjourned to September 5, 2026, for trial.
Recall that in July, the EFCC had, via its charge, accused the defendant of contravening Section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
Count three of the charge reads:
After the defendant was arraigned, his legal team filed affidavits pursuant to the 1999 Constitution, as amended, insisting that bail remained a constitutional right.
The court had earlier ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre pending hearing and determination of his bail request.
However, the defendant had maintained that the offences are bailable and that he did not jump bail when he was granted administrative bail by the EFCC.
The applicant had also denied having cryptocurrency funds worth over US$3 million.
The EFCC has been at the centre of the prosecution of crypto-related fraud cases and other money-laundering disputes over the years.
In response, these fintech companies later announced the prohibition of cryptocurrency or virtual currency transactions on their platforms.
Under CBN supervision, the fintech companies are required to report any account trading in cryptocurrency to the NSA through their regulator, the CBN.
Follow the story
