EFCC Arraigns Man Over Alleged $285,000 Crude Oil Fraud Against Singaporean

The Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, arraigned Amechi James Oduofor before Justice C. A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Benin City, over alleged crude oil fraud.
Oduofor, 64, was arraigned on an eight-count charge bordering on forgery, impersonation and obtaining money by false pretence, involving the alleged defrauding of a Singaporean of $285,000.
One of the charges alleged that Oduofor, sometime in 2020, within the jurisdiction of the court, knowingly forged an identity card bearing the name Engr. Wilcox Bright, purportedly identifying him as a Desk Manager, Operations Offshore Loading Petroleum, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The charge stated that the document was allegedly created to deceive Jimmy Kee, a Singaporean, into believing it was genuine and inducing him to pay the aggregate sum of $285,000.
The alleged offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria), 2017.
Another count alleged that Oduofor knowingly altered a document captioned “Proforma Invoice for Marine (ATB)” in 2020 and sent it to Kee through the email address brightweeks62gmail.com.
According to the charge, the document was allegedly altered to make it appear genuine and induce Kee to pay the sum of $285,000 to the defendant.

The alleged offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2)(2) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria), 2007, as stated in the charge.
When the charges were read to him, Oduofor pleaded not guilty.
Following his plea, prosecution counsel, I. M. Elodi, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility.
Justice Obiozor subsequently adjourned the case until November 19, 2026, for hearing and ordered that Oduofor be remanded in a correctional facility.
The defendant’s arrest followed EFCC investigations which allegedly revealed that he defrauded Kee by inducing him to pay $285,000 as a fictitious cargo reassignment fee for light crude oil purportedly originating from Nigeria.
To execute the alleged fraud, Oduofor reportedly presented himself as Bright Wilcox, an engineer and Desk Manager, Operations (Offshore), of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The commission’s investigations further indicated that he allegedly created a fraudulent email account through which he sent forged NNPC documents to the Singaporean in an attempt to convince him of the legitimacy of the transaction.