How an old boy duped classmates of N1.89bn- victim

Ogunsakin Mustapha
5 Min Read

A business consultant, Mr Olusegun Durodola told an Ikeja High Court how a former employee of a newspaper company in Lagos, Olusegun Ogunbanjo allegedly exploited false representations and used the media house to defraud his old school students association of N1.89 billion in multi billion naira investment.

Durodola, a prosecution witness while being led-in-evidence by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution(DPP), Dr. Babajide Martins told the court on Tuesday that he had known the defendant for over 39 years and they went to the same school.

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The business expert recounted how Ogunbanjo allegedly committed the fraud. He told the court that the defendant claimed to have management approval to build in-house staff accommodation at for the newspaper company following the death of a member of staff.

“Ogunbanjo falsely represented that Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) were issued by the newspaper which he submitted to the police at Panti during investigations.

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“He later confessed at Panti that there was no legitimate business and that all the LPOs he issued over the years were forged.He admitted to using the money to build houses and buy cars,” he said.

The witness further revealed that Ogunbanjo claimed to have become the Managing Director of the newspaper, presented forged documents to support his claim.

Durodola said “The defendant is a friend and a close ally of my family but he falsely came and lied that he was the MD of the popular newspaper and that the previous one had been sacked.

“He told me based on my experience, the newspaper will give me employment and that I should send my resume. He sent me email from one Mrs Angela Onwunuor. I don’t know he was the one impersonating the newspaper.

“He even told me that the chairman of the newspaper had reviewed my CV and that I was being considered for the position of Director of Strategy. I received a fake email purportedly from the chairman offering me the job.

“I trusted him as an old schoolmate and I initially invested N5 million into his venture with the promise of profit-sharing only to discover later that the funds had been misappropriated.”

The witness further told the court that he was not the only one the defendant allegedly collected money from.

“He collected N500 million and 50,000 US dollars from Mr Olushola Ikuyajesin. “Ikuyajesin had to fly down to Nigeria to investigate when the defendant started given excuses only to discover he has been deceiving us.

“After he was arrested, we discovered that he has been living his life with all these money and the newspaper even placed a disclaimer on him twice.

“He sent his wife to go and give birth abroad and he started driving Mercedes Benz 500 Bentley which he said the newspaper gave to him as official car” He said.

The witness said the effect of the alleged fraud made him loose his job as a Managing Director of a popular communication company

He added that he brought an auditor to Panti who audited the defendant’s account and discovered he had collected a total sum of N1.89 billion from them.

During cross-examination by the Defence Counsel, Ms M.A. Abia-Bassey, the witness told the court that Ogunbanjo had consistently misrepresented facts and diverted funds purportedly meant for the newspaper contracts into his personal account.

He further alleged that Ogunbanjo used investors’ money to fund personal expenses, including overseas travel for childbirth and acquiring properties, some of which were later sold without disclosure.

The case which began in June 2024, had been marred by delays, including the recent death of the defendant’s former counsel, Mr. T.E. Okeke, in a car accident.

At a previous hearing, Ogunbanjo’s new counsel, Abia-Bassey, sought an adjournment to familiarize herself with the case and allow the defendant, who was reportedly unwell, to attend to his health.

Olawunmi Ogunbanjo, Vaneloo International Ltd, Valeco Global Ventures, Bagco Garba, Taofeek Ogunbanjo, Ifeanyi Odogwu, Bound Media Ltd, and Godwin Benson are also defendants in the case with ID/21559C/2023.

The remaining defendant, however are still at large.

Justice Ismail Ijelu adjourned the case until February 11 for continuation of trial.

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