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Tag: fraud

  • Lagos arraigns two employees over ‘fraud’

    The Lagos State Government yesterday arraigned two of its employees for ‘fraud’.

    Babajide Odekunle and Olugbenga Omolewu of the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA) were arraigned at the Ikeja Magistrate Court for fraud and falsifying LASIMRA account.

    The charges read: “That you, Babajide Odekunle and Olugbenga Omolewu and others now at large between September 2015 and August 2017 conspired among yourselves to commit felony to wit, false accounting, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 411 of the Criminal Law, Cap. C17, Vol. 3, Laws of Lagos State 2015.

    “That you, Babajide Odekunle and Olugbenga Omolewu and others now at large between September 2015 and August 2017 being officers in charge of the receipt and management of the Revenue of LASIMRA did make false statement and return of the said revenue to the Lagos State Government, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 33 of the Criminal Law, Cap C.17, Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015.”

    The accused pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate Aje Afuwa granted them N500,000 bail each.

    Each of the accused must also produce two sureties, one of who must be a level 15 officer and above in the state civil service, while the other sureties must be their relatives.

     

  • Housing project: ICPC arraigns NUT treasurer, contractors over N495.8m fraud

    Housing project: ICPC arraigns NUT treasurer, contractors over N495.8m fraud

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said yesterday it has arraigned the Treasurer of Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Abuja Municipal, Mr. Percy Ndam, to court for alleged  N495.8 million fraud.

    Ndam was accused of conspiring with two contractor, Frank Igbinedion and Uche Nwedi,  to convert the cash into personal use.

    The said funds were meant for NUT Housing Loan Scheme.

    According to a statement by the ICPC spokesperson, Mrs. Rasheedat A. Okoduwa (mni), Ndam is facing a five-count charge before Justice Adegbola Adeniyi of the Federal Capital High Court 20, Apo.

    Counsel to ICPC Mr. Raheem Adesina, while pressing the charges against the three suspects, told the court that Ndam and his associates committed the crime between November, 2011 and October, 2015.

    The statement said: “The court heard that Ndam allegedly stole N296 million of the union’s money.

    “He was accused of converting N221 million from the operational account of the union to personal use in one instance and further received another N75.2 million belonging to the same union from Isaac Sanda, who is a managing director of Contemporary Archivision Ltd, a company involved in the housing scheme.

    “The court was also told that Mr. Igbinedion and Saframic Homes Ltd were paid N113.9 million in January 2012 for the processing of title documents for the land and for payment of compensation to the villagers, whose land had been acquired for the project, but allegedly embezzled N93. 899 million of the sum under the pretext of spending it on a payment to an unspecified task force and for the reprocessing of the Technical Drawing Plans (TDP) of the project.

    “Igbinedion and Saframic Homes Ltd were again accused by the commission of allegedly converting N50 million out of N100 million the former had received for payment to a company, Kenia Integrated Ltd, for the processing of title documents.

    “On their own part, Nwedi and NCR & Associates Ltd were accused of converting N56.7 million belonging to NUT to personal use under the pretext of spending the money on Land Offer Letters, TDP and payment to a consultant.”

    The statement said the offences “contravene Section 311 and are punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532, Volume 4 Laws of the FCT, Nigeria”.

    It added: “All the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges when read to them as their counsel applied for their bail, which was opposed by Mr.. Adesina of ICPC on the grounds that the applications were an abuse of court process because they were filed before the charges were served on them.

    The trial judge, Justice Adeniyi, while overruling the objection, granted their applications.

    “Percy Ndam was admitted to bail in the sum of N100 million with two sureties in like sum; Igbinedion N50 million with two sureties in like sum; and Nwedi N20 million with one surety in like sum.

    “The court said all the sureties must be resident in the FCT, swear to affidavit of service, and should not be below the rank of Assistant Director in the employment of the Federal Government or FCT or any of their agencies.”

    The matter was adjourned to October 31 and November for hearing.

  • Lawyer faces N2m fraud charge

    Lawyer faces N2m fraud charge

    A self-proclaimed lawyer, Segun Harrison, who allegedly converted N2million belonging to his client to his personal use, was Thursday brought before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos.

    Harrison, 53, of Isheri-Osun, Lagos, is standing trial on a two-count charge of fraud and misrepresentation before Mr B. I. Bakare.

    Prosecuting Inspector Ingobo Emby told the court that Harrison committed the alleged offences sometime in July 2015, at Power Line Road off Ajiboye St, Orile-Agege, Lagos.

    He said the defendant falsely represented himself as a lawyer and defrauded the complainant, Mrs Omolola Dawodu.

    “Harrison fraudulently sold a two-bedroom bungalow valued at N5 million, belonging to the complainant and converted N2 million to his personal use without the consent of the complainant.

    “The said bungalow was situated at Power Line Road off Ajiboye St, Orile-Agege, Lagos,” Emby said.

    According to him, the offences contravened Sections 287 (7) and 380 (2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Harrison pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate Bakare, granted him N500,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    The sureties must be gainfully employed, be resident in Lagos State, and have their addresses verified.

    The case continues on October 5.

  • Alleged $8.8m fraud: Group sues Lagos A-G for stopping Indians’ trial

    Alleged $8.8m fraud: Group sues Lagos A-G for stopping Indians’ trial

    A pressure group, the Incorporated Trustees of Laws and Rights Awareness Initiative, has sued the Lagos State Attorney-General Adeniji Kazeem for stopping the trial of two Indians, Messrs Deepak Khilnan and  Sushil Chandra, for alleged $8.8m fraud.

    Lagos State had in 2015 charged Khilnani, a chartered accountant, along with Chandra, for allegedly defrauding Gree Fuels Limited of $8,776, 862.

    The Attorney-General, on July 13,  filed a nolle  prosequi in the case, leading to protests by some lawyers.

    But the group, made up of 28 lawyers led by Olayinka Olu-Daniels, in its originating summon, is contending that the Attorney-General acted ultra vires and against the constitution.

    In a motion filed on September 11 by their counsel, Olumide Babalola, the claimant sought an injunction to restrain the defendant and his officers from further exercising the powers given under Section 211 (1) (C) of the Constitution unless and until they are able to satisfy the court that such exercise is in the public interest, interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process as provided under Section 211 (3) of the Constitution.

    It asked for a declaration that the exercise of the defendant’s power of nolle prosequi under Section 211 (1) (C) of the Constitution cannot be activated in the absence of any formal explanation by the defendant to the court.

    According to the group, such explanation ought to satisfy the requirement of public interest, interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process as provided under Section 211 (3) of Constitution and

    It sought “a declaration that the exercise of the defendant’s prayer is not, under Section 211 (1), (2), subject to the defendant’s discretion, whims and caprices”.

    The claimant therefore urged the court to determine “whether or not by the interpretation and construction of Section 211 (1), (2) and (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the defendant can validly exercise his powers of nolle prosequi thereunder without regard for the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process”.

    The plaintiff wants the court to hold “that the exercise of the defendant’s power of nolle prosequi was not exercised in the interest of the public, justice and it in itself constituted an abuse of court process in violation of Section 211 of the Constitution;” and that the claimant is entitled to relief sought if the issues raised for determination of the court are resolved in its favour.

    The plaintiff sought two reliefs from the court.

    “A declaration that the defendant cannot validly exercise his powers under Section 211 (1) (c) of the Constitution, except in the public interest, in the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process;

    “A declaration that public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process as stipulated under Section 211 (3) of the Constitution are the basic considerations to be satisfied by the defendant before exercising his powers under section 211 (1) (c).”

    In an affidavit deposed to in support of the originating summon by Daniel John Daniel, the plaintiff averred that the defendant, by a letter dated April 30, 2015, through the office of the Director Public Prosecution (DPP) issued a legal advice indicting the two Indians and recommended them for prosecution.

    It stated that based ­on the legal advice, the suspects were charged before a Lagos High Court in suit number ID/1544/2015 by the state government.

    The deponent averred further that members of the claimant named in the motion, led by Olayinka Ola-Daniels and numbering about 28 legal practitioners, appeared before the court as amicus curiae on July 13 when the suit was about to be struck out and expressed reservation on the unconstitutionality of the notice of discontinuance.

    The claimant, therefore, prayed the court for a definite pronouncement on the questions distilled for determination as it will help strengthen social justice, constitutional governance, federalism, the rule of law and due process of the laws of the country.

    It contended that it would be in the interest of democracy, justice, rule of law and the people of the state to grant the reliefs sought.

     

  • Alleged $1m fraud: Businessman petitions Buhari over police handling of case

    • ‘Officer handling case transferred for rejecting bribe from suspects’

    Businessman, Austin Ugochukwu Albert, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged poor handling of a $1million ( N360 million) fraud case he lodged with the Police.

    He said he paid N360 million in exchange for $1million, which he never got.

    He said he was suspecting compromise, abuse of office and corrupt activities by some officers assigned to investigate how he was swindled of the $1million.

    He blamed some officers in the Inspector-General of Police monitoring unit of compromise.

    He alleged that he suspected a corrupt deal of about $200,000 to frustrate his complaint to the police.

    He said the officer handling his case was transferred in a suspicious manner at the prompting of one of the influential suspects, who defrauded him.

    He said he could not understand why the officer was redeployed midway into a crucial investigation in which he had recovered $205,000.

    In a petition through his counsel, Ugochukwu Ezekiel, he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to return his case to the Force Intelligence Unit instead of the Monitoring Unit.

    He said he paid  N360 million with intent to source for $1million for his business.

    But after successfully remitting the N360 million, a group of five suspects involved in the transaction refused to give him the $1million.

    He said: “Our client first reported the matter at Area J Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Ajah, Lagos State, where the suspects made confessional statements that the entire transaction was a fraud but at this point they all refused to give up their kingpin;  Bakare.

    “The matter was later transferred to Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos on the orders of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, who equally ordered that all accounts already frozen by the Police pursuant to their investigation activities be unfrozen. Our client was dissatisfied and wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police.

    “Unfortunately, the officers that investigated the matter at Inspector General of Police monitoring unit compromised the matter, refused to arrest the kingpin, who had been identified as  Bakare.

    “They hurriedly charged the matter to a Magistrate Court in Abuja, which to their knowledge, has no jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

    “The suspects were subsequently set free on ridiculous bail conditions and this emboldened them as they called our client and demanded that our client should not pursue the matter anymore or he would be eliminated.

    “To forestall the materialisation of their threat, our client wrote a fresh petition to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department and the matter was assigned to the Force Intelligence Bureau for investigation.

    “On learning of the embarrassing situation, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Inspector General of Police monitoring unit quickly transferred the case file to the Force Intelligence Bureau for a review and unbiased investigation..

    “Our client must confess that the Force Intelligence Bureau acted professionally and intelligently and within weeks rounded up the suspects and obtained an order from the Federal High Court to have them detained pending investigation.

    “We are aware that the head of Force Intelligence Bureau was offered  some huge amount of money as bribe and he turned it down.

    “To our client’s utter consternation, our client got information that  Bakare was boasting while still in detention that he has offered the money that was rejected by men of Force Intelligence Bureau to some officers  in the Monitoring Unit and that the case will not only be taken away from that department but the head of that unit, who he described as very strict, will be removed.

    “Our client treated this as the joke of the century and moved on. However, less than 24 hours after our client got the information, the Inspector General of Police sent a signal that the case file be transferred to another unit and that the officer be immediately transferred.”

    The businessman urged the President to use his “good offices to ensure that the case is returned to the Force Intelligence Unit and the honest officer unduly removed be reinstated to that unit”.

  • Ex-secretary nabbed for ‘N2.5m fraud’

    The Borno State Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested Bulama Bukar, a former Local Education Authority secretary, for alleged N2.5 million fraud, Commandant Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi has said.

    Abdullahi, who presented the suspect to the public yesterday in Maiduguri, said the suspect allegedly collected money from 65 youths on the pretext of offering them teaching jobs.

    He said the suspect was arrested with three accomplices on August 2.

    Abdullahi listed the others as Bukar Muhammad, Sale Abdulhameed and Angili Sunday, ex-workers of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in Munguno Local Government.

    “The suspects confessed to have collected between N60,000 and N80,000 from each of the job seekers.

    “The case was first reported to the command by one of the suspects, Bukar Muhammad, after he escaped lynching by the victims.

    “The youth, holders of Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE), confronted one of the suspects after they failed to scale through the workers’ verification conducted by the state government,” he said.

    Abdullahi said the youth were offered fake employment into the civil service, adding that investigation was on.

  • Police arrests fraudster over admission racketeering

    Police arrests fraudster over admission racketeering

    Operatives of the Police Rapid Response Squad (RRS) have arrested an undergraduate for allegedly defrauding university admission seekers.

    Mayaki Best, a 300- level student of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, allegedly cloned the website of Lagos State College of Health Technology and duped several admission seekers of large sums of money.

    The police alleged that the suspect also impersonated the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) by pretending to be an auctioneer online.

    Best was apprehended at Auchi last Wednesday after he was tracked to Edo State following a petition by the Provost, Lagos State College of Health Technology, Dr. Moyo Kasim.

    According to the police, Dr. Kasim had petitioned the state police commissioner on the alleged fraudulent activity of a certain Dr. Odeh Philip Oteche, who cloned the website of the institution and requested varying sums of money from applicants.

    The petition was referred to the Commander RRS, Tunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner (ACP), with a copy of the cloned application and bank details which showed applicants paid N2,500 per form.

    Police said Best was arrested with three Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, one of which belonged to Otache Philip Odeh, the alleged owner of the fraudulent account.

    The two other ATM cards, the police said belonged to Abua Sunday. They said unfilled soft copies of Customs papers were also found in his possession.

    “In his confession to the police, Best said he was the brain behind the cloning of the institution’s website and had withdrawn series of deposits made to the accounts by different applicants.

    “He added that he veered into admission racketing when online Customs auction of automobile and seized items failed to yield expected returns. Apart from these, the suspect disclosed that he also used local and international dating platforms for scamming.

    “Through the cloned website, Best said he had collected deposits ranging from N2,500 to N157,000. He said one Charles and Ganiyu Balogun now at large were accomplices.

    “He stated that he opened Access Bank and UBA accounts with Sunday Abua for Nigerian Customs auction vehicles and goods.

    “He disclosed that the three facebook accounts of female Custom Officers he had been using and pictures of automobiles in display were sourced from Google,” the police said.

    The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence (SCIID), Panti, Yaba.

  • N15.2m ‘fraud’: businessman’s trial begins November 29

    An Isolo Magistrate’s Court yesterday fixed November 29 for the trial of a businessman, Ikechukwu Odogwu, accused of forgery and fraudulently obtaining N15,170,000 from his business partner, Calistus Okafor, in a land deal.

    Magistrate J. Adeyemi set the date following parties’ agreement that the matter was ripe for trial.

    At the commencement of proceedings yesterday, the defendant observed through his counsel that the case had received attention on national dailies.

    But Magistrate Adeyemi advised the parties to disregard happenings outside the court.

    He said since the case was for mention, the parties should agree on a trial date. They chose November 7.

    The police arraigned Odogwu last August 16 on a three-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and obtaining by false pretence.

    Prosecuting Inspector Steven Molo told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offences sometime in 2009.

    He alleged that Odogwu obtained N15,170,000 from the complainant under the pretence that he had a Power-of-Attorney from a firm, Demco Textile International, to sell 2.5 hectares of land situated at Lugbe 1, Extension Layout, Abuja Municipal Area Council.

    Molo also alleged that the defendant and one other person still at large, sometime in 2016, at Festac Town, conspired to obtain money under false pretence.

    According to the prosecutor, the offences are punishable under Sections 411, 314 (1) (a) and 287 (3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Odogwu pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate Adeyemi granted him N5 million bail with two sureties in the like sum.

  • Court rejects American’s application for variation of bail conditions

    Court rejects American’s application for variation of bail conditions

    Justice Hakeem Oshodi of an Ikeja High Court Monday rejected an application brought before the court by an American, Marco Ramirez, alleged to have defrauded three Nigerians seeking US green card of $565,000.

    He said the application filed by Ramirez through his counsel, Ademola Adefolaju, was incompetent.

    At resumed proceedings yesterday, the vacation judge, Justice Oshodi declined to hear Ramirez’s application for variation of bail conditions as he was absent in court.

    His counsel, Adefolaju told the court that Ramirez is in Kirikiri Prison custody and that that is why he could not appear in court.

    “My Lord, my client is not here. He is on remand in prison, we will like my Lord to vary the bail conditions, the defendant has been unable to get an executive director of a company as a surety,” Adefolaju said.

    Responding, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr M.F Owede, opposed the application for variation of the bail conditions.

    Owede told the court that Ramirez was an international fugitive and that varying his bail condition would not be in the interest of justice.

    He urged the court to uphold the bail conditions granted him by Justice Josephine Oyefeso on July 10.

    “The defendant is a fugitive in the U.S.A., and he is already flagged by the interpol, despite this he was still granted bail on liberal terms,”Owede said

    Ruling on the application, Justice Oshodi, said that the application cannot be heard because Ramirez was not present in court.

    He held that the application was incompetent because there was nothing before the court to prove Ramirez’s alleged ill health.

    Adefolaju had on Friday brought an application before  a vacation Judge,  Justice Ganiyu Safari that his client’s health condition had deteriorated in Kirikiri Prison since his remand in July.

    He prayed the court for an order to allow the defendant to bring one surety that is in a directorate cadre in the Lagos State civil service as a substitute for a director in a reputable company.

    Adefolaju said Ramirez was dying in prison and the failure “to expeditiously determine the motion is dangerous as his health is deteriorating in prison custody.”

    However, Justice Safari held that since the EFCC was not aware of the proceedings it was better for the matter to be adjourned.

    He ordered that a hearing notice be issued to the commission informing it of Ramirez’s application and adjourned the hearing of the application till today before Justice Oshodi who is resuming today as the next vacation judge.

    The EFCC had charged Ramirez with a 16-count charge bordering on obtaining under false pretences.

    According to the anti-graft agency, Ramirez, who is the Managing Director of three companies, USA Now Plc., Eagleford Instalodge Group and USA Now Capital Group, allegedly committed the offences between February 2013 and August 2013.

    EFCC alleged that Ramirez fraudulently received $545,000 from Godson Echejue to invest in his company, Eagleford Instalodge Group, in order to procure an American green card (residence permit) for him.

    Healso allegedly received $10,000 from Abubakar Umar through a non-existent investment programme in the U.S., which was billed to make Mr. Umar eligible to obtain an American passport.

    The EFCC also accused Mr. Ramirez of illegally receiving $10,000 from one Olukayode Sodimu under the pretext that the funds were facilitation fees with the American Immigration Services for an American green card.

    Ramirez had pleaded not guilty to the 16 count charge offence.

    Justice Josephine Oyesfeso had on July 10, granted Ramirez bail in the sum of $250,000 bail or its naira equivalent with two sureties in like sum.

    Oyefeso had ordered that one of the sureties should be resident in Lagos, be a director of a reputable company and have landed property in Lagos State.

  • RRS arrests four fraud suspects

    RRS arrests four fraud suspects

    The Rapid Response Squad (RRS) has arrested four persons suspected to be members of two fraud syndicates on Lagos Mainland.

    They were arrested during two operations at Ikeja, Maryland, Ojodu-Berger, Agege and Oshodi.

    According to the RRS, Chinasa Sunday, 44, and Osadebe Aigbe, 30, who allegedly defrauded a lady, Grace Enitan of N85,000, were apprehended at Ikeja on Thursday after days of surveillance.

    It was gathered that the victim reported to the RRS Headquarters in Alausa after four men, who picked her in a taxi, duped her of the amount.

    Enitan was said to have identified Sunday and Aigbe as members of the gang that defrauded her. A third suspect identified simply as Martin is said to be at large.

    Sunday, who claimed he joined the gang in February after he lost his job, said his job was to monitor the victim, adding that Enitan was picked up at Olowopopo Way, Ikeja.

    Sunday Atanda, 56, and Fausat Tijani, 58, said to be members of the second syndicate were arrested on Saturday after a failed attempt to fleece Rukayat Aderinwale of N120,000.

    Aderinwale, a food vendor, was said to have been hypnotised at Oshodi in a bid to dispossess her of her money, jewellery and mobile phone.

    It was gathered that the suspects with three others at large, led the hypnotised victim to another location but she regained consciousness midway and screamed for help.

    In a statement, RRS said its officers moved to her rescue and caught Atanda and Tijani.

    Atanda, who lives at 13, Pero Street, Agege, was said to have mentioned Kayode, Shina and Lateef as fleeing members of his gang.

    He said they wanted to dispossess the victim of her valuables, adding that he joined the syndicate to feed his family.

    Atanda said they operated between Oshodi and Agege adding that Lateef is the ring leader.

    Spokesman for the command, Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said investigation was ongoing.