Two former MTN employees alongside their accomplices are now cooling off in the custody
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged swindling
of N1bn belonging to MTN Employees Multipurpose Cooperative Society (MEMCOS),
reports
DigitalSENSE
Business News.
Also
DigitalSENSE Business
News gathered that these men, Messrs Victor Akintunde and
Gani O. Mustapha and their companies
Primavera Engineering and Construction Limited, and Mabo Dredging Limited as
well as a contractor, Mutairu Babatunde were on Wednesday, December 10, 2014
arraigned before justice Lawal Akapo of the Lagos State High Court sitting in
Ikeja
on a 17-count charge bordering on
conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretense, forgery, and issuance of dud
cheque.
Sources at EFCC told
DigitalSENSE Business
News that Akintunde and Mustapha,
former executive members of MTN Employees Multipurpose Cooperative Society
(MEMCOS), ran into trouble when they could not account for more than
N1,000,000,000.00 (One Billion Naira), being money contributed by members of
MEMCOS who purposed to own houses in the ambitious "Yellow Estate"
proposed to them by the executive members.
MEMCOS was allegedly
set up in order to build housing estate for the contributors but unfortunately
after over N1,000,000,000 was contributed, the contributors received neither
houses nor refund of their money.
Akintunde and Mustapha allegedly connived with Babatunde, a purported
contractor and converted the money into their personal use.
One of the charges read: "You Victor Akintunde, Gani O.
Mustapha, Mutairu Babatunde, Primavera Engineering and Construction Limited and
Mabo Dredging Limited on or about 8th April, 2008 at Lagos within the Ikeja
Judicial Division with intent to defraud, conspired to steal the sum of
N77,000,000 (Seventy Seven Million Naira) property of MEMCOS being outstanding refund for 5
hectares out of 13 hectares of land you bought for the society from Mutairu
Baba Egbe Family that you claimed had defective title and thereby committed an
offence contrary to section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Cap C17 Vol2, Laws of
Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003".
Another count read: "Mutairu Babatunde and Primavera
Engineering and Construction Limited on or about 8th April, 2008 at Lagos
within the Ikeja Judicial Division with intent to defraud, stole the sum of
N516,697,340 (Five Hundred and Sixteen Million, Six Hundred and Ninety Seven
Thousand, Three hundred and Forty Naira
Only) property of MTN Employees Multipurpose Cooperative Society (MEMCOS) being
sum that you fraudulently claimed you used to compensate early settlers in 26
hectares of land amounting 321 plots of land you bought for the society from
Jagun Opolu Family and thereby committed
an offence contrary to section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Cap C17 Vol2, Laws
of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003".
Counsel to the third accused person (Babatunde), moved a
bail application for his client which was opposed by the prosecuting
counsel, Emmanuel Jackson. According to
Jackson, it took over one year for the third accused person to appear before
the court, even after he was ordered by the court to make himself available.
Jackson requested the court to give him a short date in
order to provide further and better counter affidavit with strong evidence for
the court to deny the third accused person bail.
Justice Akapo upheld the prosecution’s argument and remanded
the third accused person in Kirikiri maximum prison, Lagos, pending hearing of
bail application.
Chuks Egbuna/GEE
+Remmy Nweke +MTN NIGERIA +Efcc Ibrahim Lamorde
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