Blessing Nwonu, a resident of Ile-Ife, Osun State, has accused Barinamda Joshua Koteh, ‘a forex trader’, of defrauding her of N50,000, her salary for five months.

Nwonu, who works as a secretary at a steel cutting company, told FIJ that she first got to hear of Joshua’s forex offer through an Instagram post made by Cindy Okafor, a Nollywood actor and brand influencer.

“Cindy Okafor, an actor, shared the trader’s WhatsApp link on her Instagram page over the weekend, urging anyone who wants to earn a hundred thousand naira every week to reach out to Joshua via his number,” Nwonu said.

“Since the business was being promoted by a celebrity, I thought it was a legitimate business.”

In the advert, Nwonu said Joshua promised he would repay any willing investor ‘a fourfold repayment of whatever capital they pay to him under 24 hours’.

“So, last Saturday, I transferred N50,000, the total sum of my salary for five months to him and he assured me that I would receive N200,000 the following day,” Nwonu said.

Since Saturday however, the ‘forex trader’ has neither paid the agreed sum of N200,000 nor returned Nwonu’s N50,000 capital to her.

Nwonu also said Joshua has stopped responding to her WhatsApp messages.

She added that the ‘forex trader’ has continued to update his WhatsApp status with ‘testimonies of those who have benefitted from his venture’.

READ ALSO: ‘N40bn Investment Fraudster’ Adewale Daniel Arraigned in Lagos

“It looked so real that I fell for it. Before I sent the money on Saturday, the guy uploaded some screenshots to show the testimonies of those he had credited. I messaged him that I would like to trade and he sent me his account details,” Nwonu said.

“After sending the money, I chatted him up to know if he had seen the money, but since then, he has refused to respond to me. So many people have been sending him money too; he keeps posting the screenshots of their payments.

“Please, help me. That money is my salary for five months. That money is my only hope. He has been posting as usual but has refused to reply my messages or refund my money.”

Some payment screenshots obtained by FIJ revealed that the ‘forex trader’ has been using a First City Monumental Bank (FCMB) account that has the name Davo Shedrach Joshua and account number 9592461018.

Joshua also uses another United Bank for Africa (UBA) account that has the name Barinamda Joshua Koteh and account number 2276790933.

Joshua’s actual picture could also not be found on all social media platforms at the time of filing this report.

READ ALSO: How Olayinka Ayowole’s Viyola Foods Defrauded Two Cassava Investors of N4.7m

FIJ made several attempts to reach Joshua via phone for a reaction to the allegation made by Nwonu, but his line was switched off. He had also not responded to the text message sent to him at press time.

FIJ also sent a message to the email made available on Okafor’s official Instagram page but it had not been responded to at press time.