Popular Instagram comedian and social media influencer, Nwagbo Oliver Chidera, better known as Pankeeroy, has been released from the custody of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
It would be recalled that Pankeeroy, was arrested by EFFC on Wednesday, April 21 over alleged Internet fraud.
The arrest took place at James Court, Lekki, Lagos state, following verified intelligence received by the Commission about their alleged criminal activities.
Read Also: EFCC Arrests Instagram Comedian, Pankeeroy Over Alleged Internet Fraud In Lagos
The commission in a statement said, Chidera, who claimed to have ventured into a Bitcoin scam after he suffered depression, had been presenting himself as a vendor who redeems bitcoin vouchers using bitcoincoretrading.com platform to defraud his unsuspecting victims.
It added that upon his arrest, a Mercedes Benz AMG GLE model worth N36m was recovered from him, adding that investigations revealed that the suspect has N22.3m worth of Bitcoin in his blocked chain account.
After over a month, the social media influencer took to his Instagram page on Friday, May 28, 2021, to share a press statement from his lawyers, where he announced his release.
According to the statement released by his legal team, there was no petition against him prior to his arrest.
It partly reads,
It is without a doubt that our Client was arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission “herein referred to as EFCC or The Commission” on 20th April 2021 at a serviced apartment in Lagos State where our Client had gone with some of his team members for the shoot of some audio-visual commercials for some of his Clients. It is also clear beyond doubt that in the quest for investigation, the Commission is saddled with the responsibility of making arrests, which were necessary for proper investigation. It is worthy to state here that there was no form of Petition against our client and as such, implied that no crime in whatever form was perpetrated against any person(s), Company, or Establishment by our Client.
Pankeeroy’s legal team added;
Further to the above, it is also worthy to state that the arrest was based on discreet information that our client was an enthusiast of Digital Currency solely in the year 2020( At the heat of Covid 19 lockdown), which in no doubt is the future of economic transactions. Upon questioning and facts finding by officers of the Commission, our Client was released as there was no form of nexus linking him to the purported commission of the investigated crime.
It declared that Pankeeroy was not indicted of any crime and that the arrest was a product of ‘job hazard’ majorly experienced in the creative space, particularly the business of digital currency.
The statement also debunked reports that his vehicle and wallets were confiscated, adding that legal process will be activated against media outlets promoting the report in due course.
See the statement below;
