The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, has arraigned Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, promoter of Bigibet and chief executive of Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, for allegedly defrauding investors of N855 million under the guise of a bogus equity investment scheme.
Abiodun was arraigned on Tuesday July 8, 2025, before Justice O.A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, alongside his company, Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, on a 10-count charge bordering on stealing and obtaining by false pretence.
According to the EFCC, the defendant lured a petitioner and several others into investing in what he claimed was a capital-raising initiative for a proposed lottery business. He allegedly assured investors of shareholding in the company, Noblesteed, and claimed to have long-standing experience in the gaming industry.
Investigations revealed that a total of N855 million was paid into a bank account controlled by Abiodun between June and September 2021. However, he allegedly failed to deliver on the promised investment and also refused to refund the funds to the victims.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Mr. Adepoju Emmanuel Abiodun, Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, sometime between June 2021 and September 2021 in Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, deceitfully obtained the total sum of N855,000,000.00 from several unsuspecting persons… by falsely representing to them that the said amount was an investment for the purchase of Equity Share Capital of Noblesteed Nigeria Limited, which representation you knew to be false…”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Prosecution counsel, A.M. Dambuwa, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional centre pending the commencement of trial.
Defence counsel, Adeyinka Abdulsalam, informed the court that a bail application had already been filed and served.
Justice Okunuga ordered that Abiodun be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre and adjourned the case till July 9, 2025, for hearing of the bail application and September 17, 2025, for the commencement of trial.
