From glory to gory Kirikiri prison: The story of Ugwu Joy, Miss Asaigbo 2016

As a beauty queen of a pageant involving the core five South East states, she is seen as a symbol of the Igbo nation, and is expected to model the defining character of the people- enterprise, industry and moral character.

Ugwu Joy, the reigning Miss Asaigbo 2016 is currently in Kirikiri prisons, Lagos, where she was remanded by a Yaba Magistrate court for alleged involvement in N7.5million fraud, Daily Sun reports.

She's a native of Eha-Amufu in Isi-uzo Local Government area of Enugu State.

Police investigations revealed she had been an alleged serial scammer, duping innocent Nigerians through a visa racket and ponzi scheme. She landed in police net after series of complaints from some of her alleged victims.

Saturday Sun learnt that the embattled pageant winner had allegedly fleeced many ‘clients’, who, however, lacked the nerve to report her because they were either threatened or afraid of her touted status and influence, until one Jonathan Nwaogu and Anita Oby reported her in Lagos and investigation was launched into the complaints.

Joy had allegedly failed to fulfill a contract to help Jonathan secure a visa for which he reportedly paid million naira (N1m). She was said to have started evading her client and avoiding his calls after the payment.

Joy also allegedly duped Oby N2million through a ponzi scheme called “Me and You” purportedly floated by the former. All went sour when one of the subscribers refused to pay and the organisation could not refund Oby’s money.

Jonathan said: “The girl duped me one million naira and the evidence is there. I didn’t have much to say, because she said she wanted the matter to be taken to court. What baffled me was the way she took the matter. It was quite obvious that she defrauded me. All she needed to do was to surrender and settle for peace to reign. I don’t understand why she decided to go to court; I heard the comments she made in the police station. The money is just one million naira and she behaved as if it was dollars. All I planned was to recover my money in a very simple way.”

Saturday Sun learnt that when she was first arrested in Enugu, the accused allegedly slapped a police officer, bragging about her connections.

She was also said to have had N7.5m in her account then, but allegedly made massive withdrawals between the period she was temporarily released and rearrested, leaving only N400,000 balance.

Although the accused who also works with a company named FESTIVITY CAKES AND CRAFTS, was granted bail, she was still in custody as at press time, as she could not meet the bail conditions.

Bethel Chikezie, who claimed to be a relation of Joy, told Saturday Sun: “The case is not just a thing of today. The allegation was based on MMM, I don’t know if the person who reported her has any personal matter with her. Maybe the person does not like her. MMM is not a recognised business in Nigeria, even the government warned when all these things came up. The point now is that they wanted her to pay for the thing, but she is saying no, because she did no wrong. Everybody did MMM, her own case could not be different.”

More photos below:

Culled from Daily Sun