The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a Port Harcourt-based medical doctor, Dr. Nekabari Dambere Nathan, over an alleged visa scam amounting to N39,157,000.00.
Dr. Nathan was arraigned alongside his institution, Global Horizons Academy Ltd, before Justice P.I. Ajoku of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, June 19, 2025.
According to the EFCC’s Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate, the defendant is facing a one-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and advance fee fraud.
The charge reads: “That you, Dr. Nekabari Dambere Nathan and Global Horizons Academy Ltd, between 8th April to 12th December 2023 at Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of Thirty-Nine Million, One Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand Naira (N39,157,000.00 only) from Justice Toojah Iyieagbu, the Managing Director of Riskout Consults, which was meant for processing visas for his clients for Canada, Ireland and the United States of America, a pretence you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.”
Dr. Nathan pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. Prosecution counsel, A. Abubakar, thereafter requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility.
Defence counsel, Friday Otanjah, informed the court of his client’s bail application and pleaded for consideration on medical grounds.
Justice Ajoku ordered that Dr. Nathan be remanded in EFCC custody and adjourned the hearing on the bail application to June 25, 2025. The trial was further adjourned to November 27, 2025.
Dr. Nathan’s arrest followed a petition alleging that he misrepresented himself as a professional caregiver trainer and travel consultant, with promises to secure visas and employment for Nigerians seeking opportunities in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
According to the petitioner, the defendant approached his firm, Riskout Consults, and convinced several students to register under his travel and training scheme. After receiving a total of N39,157,000.00 from the victims, the defendant reportedly failed to deliver on his promises, became unreachable, and blocked all efforts to recover the funds.
