How Victor Thompson used forged license to defraud American investors of $525k — Witness

A second prosecution witness, Michael Eyo, has narrated to a Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, how an alleged fraudster, Victor Ekpong Thompson, forged a mining license to swindle three American investors out of $525,276.

Appearing before Justice Maurine Adaobi Onyetenu, Eyo explained that he owns a legitimate mining site in the Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State.

He testified that the defendant tricked him into presenting the original copy of his mining license under the guise of verifying its authenticity.

Thompson then photographed the document without his knowledge and used the images to create a forgery to convince his foreign targets.

Thompson was first arraigned on January 29, 2026, on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, advance fee fraud, criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, and stealing, to which he pleaded not guilty.

One of the counts stated that between January and June 2025, Thompson fraudulently obtained $123,030 from Tammy Jensen, Peter Jensen, Kenneth Blad, and others under the pretense of investing the funds in a mining venture and a deep seaport business.

Earlier in the trial on March 26, 2026, one of the victims, Tammy Jensen, gave her evidence-in-chief, detailing how she met Thompson on Facebook in August 2022.

He introduced himself as a precious stones dealer and convinced her team to fund a mining project through a proposed firm, Arch Royale Projects Limited, in the Iwuru Community of Cross River State.

Thompson also lured them into a fictitious $6.7 billion deep seaport project in Akwa Ibom State, falsely claiming involvement with senior government officials and requesting $110,000 for documentation fees.

Between June 2023 and August 2025, the investors transferred a total of $525,276 to Thompson via Wells Fargo Bank, Chase Bank, and WorldRemit.

The deception unraveled when Jensen visited Nigeria in June 2025 and discovered that the site operations were entirely fabricated.

Investigations later revealed that Arch Royale Projects Limited was not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission at the time, and that Thompson had diverted the funds to acquire personal assets, including a two-story duplex at Shelter Afrique Estate in Uyo, a Toyota Hilux, and a Lexus RX350.

During Thursday’s proceedings, the defense counsel, Madu Uwem Amamko, moved a motion for bail on health grounds. This was opposed by the prosecution counsel, Joshua Abolarin, who argued that the defendant’s health was not in jeopardy.

Justice Onyetenu has reserved her ruling on the bail application until June 8, 2026.