EFCC Files Fresh Fraud Charges Against Jude Okoye After Bail
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed new charges against Jude Okoye, older brother and former manager of the defunct music duo P-Square. This comes after a Federal High Court in Lagos had earlier granted him a N100 million bail over allegations of money laundering.
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In the new charges, the EFCC presented a four-count charge accusing Okoye of converting substantial sums meant for his brother, Peter Okoye as music royalties.
Specifically, the charges alleged that between 2016 and 2023, Okoye and his company Northside Music Ltd, converted $767,544.15 paid by Lex Records Limited, £34,537.59 from the same source, $133,566.49 from Kobalt Music Services Limited, and $118,652.23 from Mtech Limited, all for P-Square’s digital music royalties.
This is said to be in violation of sections 278 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. Okoye was arraigned before Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The EFCC’s prosecutor, M.K. Bashir, requested for trial date and applied for Okoye to be remanded in a correctional facility. Okoye’s defence counsel, Clement Onwenwnor, SAN asked for bail for his client and chose for Okoye to be in EFCC custody pending the bail hearing.
This legal mess started from an internal dispute within the Okoye family. In August 2023, Peter Okoye had petitioned the EFCC that Jude and his wife, Ifeoma had diverted millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of naira in P-Square royalties into a separate entity, Northside Music Ltd, registered under Jude and Ifeoma’s name alone.
Peter claimed this was a deliberate plan to siphon funds, bypassing the group’s agreed financial structure. Peter said he did not implicate his twin brother, Paul Okoye in his petition but was only after Jude and his wife. He stated that Paul was not detained or arrested as was earlier claimed.
Jude Okoye, however, denied any wrongdoing, saying his company Northside Entertainment had been transparent and operational for over a decade. He said all financial dealings were legitimate and he only took what was his.
