How Wonder bank dupes businessman of N360m

A Port-Harcourt-based businessman, Emmanuel Ugoakaeze, Tuesday told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, how a company, Nospecto Oil and Gas, allegedly stole his N360 million by deceiving him that the money had been invested in an industrial fuel business.

In charge No: ID/212/2011, Nospecto and four others are facing a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing and collecting deposits illegally from the public without a licence, preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

They were accused of fraudulently converting the sums of N360m, property of Gladys Cho and Associates, and N180, 750,000.00 belonging to Rivotel International Ltd.

The other defendants are Alhaji Yusha’u Abdullahi Maiyaki; Alhaji Al-Sidiq Manga; Alhaji Monday Sumanu Philemon; and Alhaji Najeem Yusuf.

The offences, the Commission said, were committed between August 2006 and May 2007 and are contrary to Sections 516, 383(1); (2)(f); 390(9) of the Criminal Code Cap C17 Volume 2, Laws of Lagos 2003 (AS amended) and Sections 58(1) and 59(a)(b) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act LFN 2004.

At the resumption of trial yesterday, Ugoakaeze, testifying before Justice Kudirat Jose for the prosecution during examination-in-chief, introduced himself as a director in a company, Rivotel International Ltd.

Led on by EFCC counsel, Mr. A.M. Ocholi, he alleged that sometime in 2006, he was introduced to Alhaji Maiyaki, the chairman of Nospecto, by one Ambrose Okogie, a member of his church.

“Ambrose had a business model that he said was generating N40, 000 from an investment of N330, 000 every month,” Ugoakaeze added.

He explained that after the introduction to Maiyaki and Manga at a meeting, the defendants made a presentation and it was confirmed that the business “was real and authentic.”

Ugoakaeze said: “I was encouraged to invest in it and I decided to give it a six-month trial. I later approached Alhaji Maiyaki, proposing that I wanted to buy land in Ikeja for a hotel. The cost of the land was N800 million.”

He said he met the defendants and Maiyaki assured him they could manage his investments and urged him to invest his money in four companies appointed by them.

“Their business, as per the MOU we signed, was transacting in fuel oil and after he confirmed that they had licence to carry out the business, I sent N360 million in total to his suggested companies and they issued me with receipts. Eventually, we started transacted business and statements were coming,” Ugoakaeze said.

He added that it was after six months that he saw on TV that “Nospecto was a fraud,” and that the company had invested his money in another company dealing in shares.

“They introduced me to their stockbroker and it later occurred to me that the money I paid was diverted to several places. We visited their office in Victoria Island but they were no longer there.”

Upon an application by defence counsel, Mr. Abubakar Shamsudeen, Justice Jose adjourned till today for cross examination of the witness.

In a 2010 publication titled ‘Stemming the tide of scourge of illegal fund managers/wonder banks, the Central Bank said 36 illegal fund managers accounted for N104 billion, or 97.3 per cent of the total collated claims of N106.9 billion and “Nospetco Oil and Gas Ltd, one of the illegal fund managers, accounted for 48 per cent of these claims.”