Ezekiel Onyedikachukwu, popularly known as ThankGod or EeZeeTee, and former manager of gospel singer Mercy Chinwo, has been granted bail by the Federal High Court in Lagos in the sum of N20 million following allegations of involvement in a $397,106 foreign exchange fraud.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, who presided over the matter, ordered on Friday that the bail must be secured with one surety residing in Lagos who owns a property of equal value. The court gave EeZeeTee 72 hours to fulfill the bail condition, following his earlier temporary release to his lawyer, Ojukwu Chikaosolu.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) initially charged EeZeeTee with 14 counts of fraudulent conversion but later reduced the charges to seven, centered on allegations of unlicensed foreign exchange dealings and money laundering.
According to EFCC prosecutor Bilikisu Buhari-Bala, the defendant allegedly engaged in a $52,895 foreign exchange transaction with one Mr. Oladotun Olaobaju Mureke in June 2023, without authorization from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The act reportedly contravenes Sections 5 and 29(1)(c) of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and is punishable under Section 29(2).
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One of the amended charges also accuses EeZeeTee and his company, Eezee Global Concepts Limited, of failing to report financial activities involving $137,383 to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering in 2024—an act said to violate provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges when they were read to him before Justice Aneke at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The trial is scheduled to continue on June 20, 2025.
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