The apex court had, on Friday, May 9, 2025, revoked the bail earlier granted to him by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are set to arraign Lagos-based socialite Fred Ajudua in connection with a $1.43 million fraud case that has lingered for over 30 years.
According to Reporters, it was gathered from a top EFCC official on Wednesday morning that Ajudua was arrested in Abuja on Tuesday after reportedly evading justice following a recent Supreme Court ruling that ordered his return to prison.
The apex court had, on Friday, May 9, 2025, revoked the bail earlier granted to him by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal.
"It is true we arrested him and he is in our custody as we speak. We arrested him yesterday because the Supreme Court had revoked his bail and he did not surrender himself. The commission is planning to re-arraign him immediately. And there is a high tendency that he would be arraigned this week," a senior EFCC source told SaharaReporters in a telephone conversation.
Ajudua, once a flamboyant figure in Lagos high society during the 1990s and early 2000s, has long been associated with a litany of high-profile fraud allegations.
The latest move by the EFCC follows revelations by SaharaReporters that Ajudua had gone into hiding shortly after the Supreme Court's decision, flouting the order to report to prison custody.
"Ajudua escaped after the Supreme Court ordered that he should be returned to prison," one official familiar with the case had earlier told SaharaReporters.
The embattled businessman is accused of defrauding a German firm, Mystic Company Ltd, through its division, Technical International Ltd, of approximately $1.43 million in 1993.
The EFCC alleges that Ajudua, in connivance with one Joseph Ochunor, used fake documents and forged official receipts from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to swindle the funds from one Ziad Abu Zalaf, a Palestinian-German businessman acting on behalf of the company.
In a letter dated August 26, 1993, the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Nigeria formally accused Ajudua of fraud, detailing how Zalaf was manipulated under false pretenses.
Following investigations, the EFCC filed a 12-count charge against Ajudua before the High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja. The case was initially heard by Justice Josephine Oyefeso before being reassigned to Justice Dada.
Ajudua was re-arraigned in 2018, where he filed for bail on medical grounds, a request which Justice Dada refused, citing the case's history of delays and the defendant's conduct.
Ajudua later secured bail from the Court of Appeal in Lagos. The appellate panel led by Justice Mohammed Garba ruled that he was entitled to bail under constitutional provisions. However, the EFCC challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court.
Delivering judgment in appeal number SC/CR/51/2019, Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme declared that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to grant Ajudua bail after it had previously struck out his appeal. The apex court ruled that any subsequent ruling on a defective appeal amounted to legal nullity.
With his bail officially voided, the Supreme Court ordered that Ajudua be returned to prison.
But rather than surrender, he allegedly vanished, prompting a manhunt that culminated in his arrest on Tuesday.
The EFCC has indicated that Ajudua's re-arraignment may happen within the week as it moves to revive the long-delayed prosecution.
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