An Ikeja Special Offences Court heard on Thursaday, how a petroleum marketer allegedly defrauded a businessman of N20 million.
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An investigation officer with the Economics and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), David Ajayeoba, told the court that the defendant, Alhaji Gbadamosi Olanrewaju, allegedly obtained N20 million from John Steven Akpan under the pretence of letting out his filling station for 10 years.
Gbadamosi is standing trial on a two-count charge of fraud and stealing before Justice Mojisola Dada.
EFCC prosecutor Idris Abdullahi Mohammed said the offence is contrary to sections 390 and 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act Number 14 of 2006.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Led in evidence by the EFCC prosecutor, Ajayeoba said: “The commission receives a petition from Yemioye Bola and Co., a legal practitioner and solicitor, on behalf of the complainant, Akpan.”
Through the firm of his solicitors, Akpan is alleging that the defendant approached him with a proposal of leasing a petroleum filling station at Omoliyi, Ikeja, to him.
He said the complainant agreed to the lease of the filling station and payment of N20 million to the defendant to cover a lease period of 10 years.
The operative also alleged that shortly after the payment, the complainant discovered that he could not take possession of the filling station.
“Upon confronting the defendant, he could not give him the filling station nor refund his money.
“When the petition was received, it was forwarded to the Executive Chairman of the Screening Committee, who usually goes through any petition received, to determine if it was worth investigating or not, and thereafter sent it to the Economy Section to approve it.
“When we received the petition, we invited the complainant to adopt his petition. Thereafter, letters of investigation activities were written and assigned to various banks and the responses received were analysed accordingly,” Ajayeoba said.
When Mohammed asked him about his findings, the witness said: “In the course of investigation, the letters were assigned to various banks and responses received and analysed.”
According to him, sometime in November 18, 2010, the complainant raised two bank drafts from his GTBank account in favour of the defendant for N19.5 million.
He said same bank drafts were secured into the defendant’s account and domiciled with GTBank on November 19, 2010.
Ajayeoba said the defendant was later invited and EFCC’s findings were used to confront him and that he volunteered his statement.
When asked if he could identify the copy of the petition, the witness said: “Yes,” adding that the petition was written by Yemioye Bola and Co.
The EFCC operative averred that in the course of their investigation, they wrote several letters to banks and responses were analysed accordingly.
He said on April 25, 2019, a letter of investigation was written to the bank, asking for a statement of account on the complainant’s statement.
Ajayeoba also identified the responses and analysed letters, including the GTB letter, dated April 26, 2019, which EFCC tendered together with an attachment as an exhibit.
The statement volunteered by the defendant upon investigation was tendered and marked as Exhibit P4.
The prosecutor also tendered the GTB letter, dated May 6, 2019, together with its attachment in evidence and marked as well as a statement of defendant with Access Bank.
Justice Dada adjourned the matter till December 9.
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