A suspected businessman, identified as Okorie Sunday, who was arrested on 19, 3,2025 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State, with $578,000 in cash suddenly collapsed in court during his trial.
It was gathered that Mr. Okorie appeared before the Federal High Court on Wednesday, where his trial had begun earlier in the morning at 8:30 am.
INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the suspect suddenly collapsed shortly after he was summoned into the dock for the re-reading of charges, just as the court registrar was about to proceed with reading the charges.
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Okorie had been arraigned in court on Tuesday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on four counts related to money laundering and a currency scam.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment before Justice Deinde Dipeolu.
After a brief agreement from both parties for a swift trial, the suspect was remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to Wednesday.
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During the resumed hearing, Okorie’s lawyer, Uche Okoronkwo, informed the court that his client wished to change his plea from not guilty to guilty.
The EFCC’s counsel, Chineye Okezie, confirmed that Okorie indeed wanted to plead guilty to the first two counts, and requested the withdrawal of the third and fourth counts. Justice Dipeolu agreed to the request and directed that the charges be re-read.
However, as the registrar began to read the charges, Okorie collapsed without showing any sign of illness.
Recall that the Nigerian Customs Service had intercepted the suspect who arrived in Lagos from Johannesburg aboard South African Airways Flight SA60 on March 19, 2025. At the airport’s currency declaration desk, he declared only $279,000.
However, a routine search uncovered an additional $299,000 hidden in several packages, bringing the total amount to $578,000.
The customs authorities also said they recovered €100 and a counterfeit $250 note among the undeclared cash.
