The former managing director of First Bank, Olabisi Onasanya, and the chairman of Honeywell Group, Chief Oba Otudeko, are facing 13 criminal charges from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly stealing N12.3 billion from First Bank.
On Monday, January 20, 2025, the two will be charged before the Federal High Court, Lagos Judge Chukwuejekwu Aneke.
Soji Akintayo, a former member of the board of directors of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, and Anchorage Leisure Ltd., a business connected to Otudeko, would also be arraigned with them.
A prosecutor for the EFCC named Bilkisu Buhari-Bala filed a lawsuit on January 16, 2025, in which all four were named as defendants.
The EFCC claims that between 2013 and 2014, the four perpetrated the scam in Lagos in tranches of N5.2 billion, N6.2 billion, N6.150 billion, N1.5 billion, and N500 million.
The anti-graft agency plans to call First Bank representatives Cecelia Majekodunmi, Ola Michael Aderogba, Abiodun Olatunji, Raymond Eze, Abiodun Odunbola, and Adeeyo David to testify to the defendants’ fraudulent misrepresentation and provide pertinent documentation as evidence of the charge against them.
Additionally, the EFCC will use the testimony of representatives of V-tech Dynamics Ltd., Stallion Nigeria Limited, and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Adaeze Nwakoby and Farida Abubakar are also listed as witnesses by the EFCC.
The acts were penalised under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Acts 2006, which the Commission claims violate Section 8(a) of the same Act.
According to count one of the charges, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited conspired between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, to obtain N12,300,000,000.00 (twelve billion, three hundred million naira only) from First Bank Limited under the false pretence that the money represented credit facilities applied for by V-Tech Dynamic Links Limited and Stallion Nigeria Limited. You committed an offence against Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006, which is punishable under Section 1(3).
According to Count 2, the defendants “obtained the sum of N5.2 billion from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for by V Tech Dynamic Links Limited, whose representation you know to be false,” on or around November 26, 2013, in Lagos.
According to the third count, the defendants collected N6.2 billion from First Bank Limited in Lagos between 2013 and 2014 on the false pretext that the money represented credit facilities sought and disbursed to Stallion Nigeria Limited.
According to Count 4, on or around November 26, 2013, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited conspired to use N6,150,000,000.00 (six billion, one hundred and fifty million naira only), which you reasonably should have known was part of the proceeds of your illegal activities, specifically: obtaining by false pretence. In doing so, you violated Sections 18(a), 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended), and Section 15(3) of the same Act.
Count 5 charges Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited with obtaining N1.5 billion from Honeywell Flour Mills Plc on or around December 11, 2013, in Lagos. You should have known that this amount was a part of the proceeds of your illegal activities, specifically: obtaining by false pretence. As a result, you violated Section 18(c), 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended), and you are subject to penalties under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
