Investment fraud involving N1 billion and $1.3 million, TStv MD Bright Echefu is seeking an out-of-court settlement.
Bright Echefu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Telecom Satellites Limited (TStv), and three other individuals have been re-arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a twelve-count amended money laundering charge that includes allegations of investment fraud, including N66 million tax default, and approximately N1 billion and $1.3 million.
The Federal High Court in Abuja re-arraigned them, but according to Nairametrics, Echefu’s legal team is attempting to reach an out-of-court deal with the prosecution.
The defendants—Echefu, Executive Director of TStv Felix Igboanuga, TStv, and Briechberg Investment Ltd.—are charged with defrauding Mr. Tanimu Turaki, MD of Kalsiyam Global and former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, BYI General Limited, of their loan investments worth N1 billion and $1.3 million, according to an exclusive review of the amended charge sheet by Naija Eyes.
Background According to a previous post by Nairametrics, the defendants were charged with nine counts of money laundering and arraigned by the EFCC in June 2024.
According to count six of the allegations, Echefu cheated Mr. Turaki out of N380 million.
Money laundering offenses, including tax evasion, unremitted Value Added Tax (VAT), Company Income Tax, and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) withheld from the paychecks of 165 employees, were allegedly committed by the defendants on or around May 18, 2020.
They did, however, enter not guilty pleas to every count.
EFCC Modified Charges and Settlement Actions Taken by Pay TV MD
On or around May 18, 2020, Echefu, Igboanuga (Executive Director of Telecom Satellites Limited), and Telecom Satellites Limited were charged with unlawfully agreeing to retain unremitted VAT, Company Income Tax, and PAYE accrued to the Federal Government of Nigeria, deducted from staff salaries, according to the EFCC amended charge sheet dated April 5, 2025, which Nairametrics was able to view.
Here are the specifics of the remaining 11 counts:
Count 2: As of May 2020, N33,909,542.47 in unpaid corporation tax
Count 3: As of May 2020, N13,519,382.00 in unremitted VAT
Count 4: Unremitted PAYE (Pay As You Earn) of N19,488,860.00 as of May 2020 Count 5: Allegedly plotting to swindle Mr. Turaki by deceiving him into paying money
Count 6: Kalsiyam Farm was accused of defrauding N150 million (as of May 2020) as a loan advance for the purchase of contemporary technology.
Count 7: According to allegations, in May 2020, Briechberg Investment Ltd fraudulently obtained N380 million from Kalsiyam Farm to further the purchase of cutting-edge technologies for Pay TV.
Count 8: BYI General Limited allegedly gave N400 million under fraudulent pretenses of loan advance.
Count 9: Turaki gave N15 million as a loan advance in May 2020.
Count 10: Turaki gave Pay TV a loan advance of N15 million in May 2020.
Count 11: Turaki allegedly loaned N138 million in November 2020 on false pretenses to cover “operational and commercial emergencies.”
Count 12: Turaki’s loan advance of $1,350,000 as of September 2020
The disputed funds total N66,917,784.47 in tax default and N1,098,000,000 and $1,350,000 in loan investment fraud, according to the aforementioned count allegations.
The defendants entered not guilty pleas to all of these allegations when they were brought before Justice Mohammed Umar on June 30, 2025.
“There are moves to settle this matter and there was a meeting between myself and the Nominal Complainant on Saturday as it is about investment,” he said, using the opportunity to request an adjournment for a report of settlement.
The senior attorney stated, “The defendants (Echefu and others) have paid some money, and I was thinking that the matter be adjourned for a report of settlement.”
A. S. Tomwell, Esq., the EFCC’s attorney, acknowledged the development but insisted on the arraignment going forward.
They are right; although they have paid a portion of the total, they have not entered a plea, so the case cannot be postponed until after the trial.
What This Signifies
Until proven guilty, the defendants are assumed innocent in this case, which is still an allegation.
The defendants’ admission and confirmation of settlement actions suggest that they are reportedly looking at methods to settle the case without going to trial for money laundering, which carries a minimum 4-year prison sentence for defaulters.
Although it is legal, settlement is mostly up to the courts’ judgment.
In March 2023, TStv fully disappeared from the public eye once more, and it has stayed that way ever since.
Years after losing thousands of consumers to a similar enterprise, TStv, Bright Echefu made another Pay TV debut in November 2024 with LUFT TV.
However, Echefu mentioned TStv, which has been overlooked on multiple occasions, and stated that it is “not dead.” He alluded to the onboarding of TStv subscribers to LUFT TV.
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