Nigerian attorney Fred Chijindu Ajudua is charged with advance-fee fraud.There was no evidence at the conclusion of his case. Native of Ibusa, Fred Ajudua completed his legal studies at Edo State’s University of Benin.An item in Newswatch Magazine from March 1994 said that I.G. Aliyu Atta, the Inspector-General of Police at the time, had called off a meeting with top cops so that he could meet with Ajudua. Aliyu Atta attempted to sue the magazine for libel but was unsuccessful.
He was reportedly incarcerated for five years at Kirikiri and Agodi in 2000.
The Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman, Alhaji Nuhu Ribadu, announced in October 2003 that Ajudua was facing twelve cases, including two cases involving advance fee fraud from 2001—one involving 1.6 million Euros and the other involving $1.5 million. He was charged with extorting money from Canadian Nelson Allen, a $250,000 loser. It was reported that he had cost a German $350,000.Between 1999 and 2000, he was alleged to have deceived two Dutch nationals out of around $1.69 million.Frieda Springer-Beck, a German woman, consented to an out-of-court settlement on July 26, 2005, following a protracted sequence of unproductive court appearances beginning in 1993.
He was appointed to teach basic law following his incarceration and while he awaited his fraud trial. On February 3, 2005, Ajudua was given bail to travel to India for medical treatment. On March 20, 2007, inside an Ibusa beer parlor, the EFCC made an attempt to apprehend him after learning that he had returned to Nigeria. Thugs with guns stopped the move. Anyone with information that could result in the fugitive’s apprehension is encouraged to come forward by the commission.
Based on an EFCC report that claimed Ajudua’s wife had engaged in a scheme to obtain $7.85 million and $3 million under false pretenses and had used money from fraud to campaign for election, the Administrative Panel of Inquiry on Reports of Alleged Corrupt Practices recommended in 2007 that she should not run for political office. However, the panel pointed out that there was no concrete evidence connecting her to her husband’s actions.
