How Nigeria/Forbes' Most Promising Entrepreneur Could End In Prison For 20 Years

In 2016, Obinwanne Okeke landed on Forbes 30 Under 30, a list of Africa's Most Promising Entrepreneurs. He was 13th on the list. The feature on Forbes announced Okeke's growing presence in the business community. At 28 years old, he already has his own company, Invictus Group - he was everything a young lad could wish for, but only if Okeke's admirers knew the foundation of his success was fraud - a crime that will now keep him behind bars for 20 years.

The opening line of the Forbes article was "Okeke could not fail his mother. A promise meant hard work and dreaming big." With the turn of event, it's safe to say he was working hard to do exactly what he didn't want to do, "fail his mother" all because he was dreaming big.

Before the Forbes spotlight on Okeke, he was already balling in construction, agriculture, oil and gas, telecoms and real estate businesses. Despite bagging a BA Degree in International Studies & Forensic Criminology, and a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Counter-Terrorism Studies, Okeke stated on his LinkedIn page that he has been "extensively involved in sourcing, structuring, implementing and monitoring various private equity investments in African and Australian markets."

The business was a front for his main business; computer fraud. His media run was meant to tell his cover story better. From Forbes, Okeke jumped onto every media outlet, BBC and even the popular TEDx Yaba. Okeke played his role so well, he would become a hit if he joined the FBI or CIA as an agent. His camouflaged life saw him get nominated for Africa’s most prestigious award for businessmen in 2017, The AABLA Awards in the category of Young African Business Leader (West Africa).

Also, Okeke was one of the 2018 Speakers at the London School of Economics (LSE) Africa Summit - he was on a rollercoaster ride, portraying a legitimate business while earning fraudulent income, and no one detected until the FBI announced his arrest two years after appearing as one of Africa's most promising entrepreneurs on Forbes and projected as tomorrow's billionaire today.

What Did Invictus Obi Do?

Invictus Obi, as he was fondly called, was arrested by the FBI for conspiracy to commit computer fraud. He was said to have deceptively cart away over $11 million wire fraud. This action pushed Okeke to his bus-stop in 'fraud avenue'. The amount was stolen from Unatrac Holding Limited after an Office365 account belonging to it’s CEO was hacked through an email compromise.

Okeke and his conspirators had acquired private and sensitive information such as credit card numbers and other credentials. This was obtained through a phishing email containing a web link in April 2018, which was sent to the Chief Financial Officer of the steel company to login. The email login page was a replica of the email hosted by Microsoft Office365, deceiving the CFO to type his details.

Between April 6 and April 20, 2018, the unknown intruder that controlled the replica page accessed the CFO’s account at least 464 times, mostly from Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in Nigeria. After the activities were reported, the FBI reviewed the submitted documents and an investigation began in July 2018. That's how Invictus Obi got on FBI's wanted list and got arrested last year August, ending his international computer-based fraud crime-run which started in 2015.

Circle Of Fraudsters - Underground To International

After his arrest, stories began to crop out of how those around Invictus Obi are purportedly involved in shady activities. According to one @chikenyelum, he had travelled to Abuja to Okeke, but was later directed to another guy when he got to Abuja, and that's how his dealings with some of Okeke's close circle started. He made some revelations on his Twitter page which are still up.

He said for those who were very active on Facebook five years ago, most will be familiar with Invictus Obi, "If you were active on Facebook four years ago, and you aligned with the top influencers then on the platform, there's 98% chance you must have heard of Obinwanne Okeke AKA "Invictus Obi". He was very visible within the Writers/Political/Gossip top influencers group on Facebook." He went on to tweet about his encounter and knowledge about Invictus Obi's close circle.

There have also been some revelations regarding his past activities which the FBI investigation did not bring to the fore. According to a Twitter user, @chikenyelum, who claimed to have crossed Okeke’s path during his University days, Okeke had been involved in several suspicious activities, and he was blocked by people who felt he wanted to dupe them on Facebook.

What Will Happen To Invictus Obi?

Since his arrest, Invictus Obi has been in and out of court, but one thing is certain, he will remain behind bars for about 20 years after the case is done - this is because he has pleaded guilty to the charges, a publication by the US Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Virginia, Department of Justice, which was seen by AllNews, showed. Okeke confessed to the crime on Thursday, June 18, 2020.

Recall that Okeke had initially denied committing any crime against US citizens and companies, but didn't deny committing the crime. According to him, the crime was committed outside Nigeria, leading him to question the jurisdiction of the court in US - He wanted the prosecution to happen outside US.