Still on Obinwanne Okeke

The Invictus Obi's saga is disheartening not because another Nigeria yet again has been busted for fraud, it's disheartening because the rippling effect will be enormous.
A lot of Nigerians are going to pay for yet another scandal by a single Nigerian.

Thing is Obinwanne was not just another average Nigerian, he had a CV and portfolio that was envied on even by the international community.

He was looked upon as one of the bright spots to come out of this dark hellish place called Nigeria.

Obinwanne Okeke (Invictus) was one of the supposed few answers to the damning question of can anything good come out of Nigeria?

Featured by Forbes as one of the Forbes 30 under 30.
He's been on BBC, given a Ted Talk, Spoke at London school of Economics Africa Summit.
Has a conglomerate spanning across many African countries dealing on oil, agriculture, infrastructure, solar energy etc.
Had a lot of International awards celebrating his achievements

With this sort of portfolio and at 32yrs, he was seen as this bright spark coming out from a country that has more trends for despicable things than amiable ones.

Only to find out that beneath all this facade was a fraudster. A serial one.

An international corporate yahoo boy with suits and a great CV to match.
Estimated to have stolen $20-$22million from US companies from 2011 till date.

There was always that gaping hole in his story about his start up capital  that gave an itch of not adding up.
But then we gave benefit of the doubt as we usually do even to our own collective detriment in a bid not to come across as a hater.

He fooled a lot of people and that for a long time. Make no mistake about it, he's going to pay for his crimes. But he isn't my concern.

You can't help but feel for other innocent Nigerians that are going to pay for the crimes of Obinwanne too.

Obinwanne would be in his prison scrub for a long time serving his time.

While other Nigerian out there will be getting Visa denied even after meeting and surpassing all the requirements.

Other Nigerians would have to work twice as hard to earn a modicum of trust and respect within the international community.

International organizations are going to pull out of deals the moment they become aware a Nigerian is part of the deal.

International airports will be a lot more hostile than they already are the moment they see you with that almost worthless green passport.

More companies will start declining cards  coming from this part of the world.

Nobody wins here, not you, not me.

Imagine one of the few people who had earned the trust and admiration of the international community being busted for fraud.
What is your fate being an average John Doe or Jane Doe?

While Obinwanne is going to pay for his crimes inside the walls of a correctional facility.

You are going to pay for his crimes in embassy halls, airports, business meetings, immigration offices etc.

It will be no fault of yours, you would probably have all the requirements but still would be treated as an infidel.

When one of your supposed brightest minds has been busted as a fraud.

What are your chances?

Nobody won here.

We all lost.

~Prince Uzor Onyemaobi

Obinwanne Okeke: The Young African Billionaire Who Duped All Of Us

The first time I heard about the exploits of Obinwanne Okeke, the CEO of Invictus Conglomerate, was in 2017, through his very close friend, Mitterand Okorie. For anyone who may be unaware of whom Obinwanne Okeke is; Obinwanne is on the Forbes list of rich young African entrepreneurs. He has bagged so many national and international awards for his 'unprecedented' feats in the business world. His 'feats and accomplishments' are dazzling and astounding. A rich 32-year-old guy, who controls billions of Naira and assets.

I watched a short video clip of a programme where Professor Charles Soludo, former CBN Governor, was the anchor. Having a deep look at the countenance of the former CBN Boss, I got a glimpse of an elderly man who got stupefied and dazed by the superlative achievements of this young Nigerian billionaire called Okeke. Also, I listened to one of his interviews on the BBC; the interviewer looked so mesmerised by the astonishing exploits of Obinwanne Okeke. Imagine a guy whose father died while at 16; and all of a sudden, he made it to the top at an age below 30! Isn't that amazing!

Obinwanne Okeke has a foundation - Invictus Foundation. This same Mitterand Okorie is the PRO of the foundation. Mitterand always sings the praises of Okeke and how God has been so good to him. On many occasions, where Okeke assisted with cash gifts, people came out to celebrate the young billionaire. On Facebook, I have read a lot of emotional reverence and encomiums poured on him for his no-mean feats. A lady got so carried away and said 'Obinwanne, I want to be like you'! Another one even said 'after learning about Okeke's entrepreneurial spirit, I am finding it difficult to sleep. "Okeke, please, I want to be under your tutelage", another one exclaimed.

Unfortunately and regrettably, Obinwanne Okeke got busted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, after a bitter complaint from one of his victims. This guy is a typical Nigerian Yahoo-Yahoo guy. You are surprised? As in, ogbologbo 419. Shey you know wetin guys dey call shashe? I mean, if you want to see a don in real ise shisha, yes, Okeke is the main guy.

For the avoidance of ambiguity, let me state it clearly, Obinwanne Okeke and his friends are internet fraudsters. That's the point I'm making here. All the sweet success stories you have read above are fluke. Okeke is into big time graft, and he has been caught. The heartrending part of the whole story is how he escaped all due diligence and made it to the Forbes list of rich and influential global entrepreneurs. He scammed Forbes too. Wow!

Nevertheless, the undercover operation of the FBI, through a Special Agent, Marshall Ward, has revealed Okeke's fraudulent practices. For instance, in one fell swoop, Okeke hacked into the system of Unatrac Holding Limited, headquartered in the UK, and swindled the Company to the tune of 11 million US Dollars (about 4 billion Naira). Many fraud-related activities of Okeke were revealed in Marshall's report that was exhibited before a Virginia Court in the US.

Okeke's main email address, used for fraud, as revealed by the FBI, is iconoclast1960@gmail.com. There are other redacted (censored) email addresses tendered before the court. These redacted addresses belong to Okeke's criminal conspirators and friends. Who are his accomplices and partners in these criminal acts? It won't be funny if Mitterand Okorie is one of them.

Written by Adejare Ibrahim