N15Billion Fraud: Alleged Ponzi Scheme Operator, Ajetunmobi Opts for Out-of-Court Settlement

APonzi scheme operator, Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi has declared his interest to settle his case with the Nigerian Government outside of the court.

Ajetunmobi who is currently facing trial over alleged N15 billion fraud was remanded in prison in July 2023 after a court ruling.

ThisDay reports that appearing before a Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday, Ajetunmobi, through his lawyer, Dr. B. U. Ukpenna, informed the court presided over by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke that he had written a letter to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to settle the matter out of court.

Before his arraignment, the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID) Annex in Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos, issued a remand warrant against the defendant through one of its legal officials, Morufu Animashaun, for violating an administrative bail granted by the police.

His case file was taken over by the AGF’s office, and he was arraigned on 35 counts of conspiracy and acquiring the sum of N15 billion by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation before his trial.

He pleaded not guilty to all the offences.

Consequently, Justice Aneke, while ruling on his bail application, held “that the prosecutor had made a credible submission that the defendant is a ‘flight risk’, as he was arrested by the Interpol in Ivory Coast, but added that bail was his constitutional rights.

The Judge then ordered the defendant to deposit N5 billion in the court’s DCRs as well as his passport.

He has been held in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) for failing to meet the court’s N5 billion bail and other conditions.

At the resumed trial of the defendant on Wednesday, his lawyer, Dr. B. U. Ukpenna, informed the court that he had written a letter to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to resolve the matter out of court.

Responding, the prosecutor, Mrs. Kehinde Bode-Ayeni, after receiving a copy of the letter, asked the court for a short date to enable the prosecution to get the necessary approval from the AGF.

By the consent of the parties, the matter was adjourned to June 26 for a report of settlement.

Among those allegedly defrauded by the defendant and the amounts he defrauded them, according to the prosecutor, were: Abioye Idiris, N3.5 billion; Chikezie Nowokocha (April Breakthrough Ventures) N1.76 billion; Edith Agu and her three friends, N236,500 million; and Mr. Peter Okonye and his wife, Mrs. Thelma Okonye, N1.2 billion, and 31 others.

She told the court that the alleged offences contravened Sections 8(a) and 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and are punishable under Sections 8 and 8 read in conjunction with Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Some of the charges against the defendant reads: “That you, Imagine Global Solutions Limited of Plot 29(a), Adebisi Ogunniyi Crescent, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Lagos State, Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi ‘M’, the Managing Director of Imagine Global Solutions Limited and others (now at large), sometimes in December 2018 and 2022, in Lagos, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting as investors, did, with the intent to defraud, obtained a total sum of N3,500,000,000.00 (Three Billion five hundred Million Naira) at different times, from Abioye Idiris on the pretext that you were going to invest the money for him and remit some percentage of the total sum to him on monthly basis as interest while the principal sum would be returned to him in full at the end of the tenure, a representation which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance fee fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

“That you, Imagine Global Solutions Limited of Plot 29(a), Adebisi Ogunniyi Crescent, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Lagos State, Bamise Samson Ajetunmobi ‘M’, the Managing Director of Imagine Global Solutions Ltd and others (now at large), sometimes between December 2020 and July 2021 in Lagos, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while acting as investors, did, with the intent to defraud, obtained a total sum of N1,760,740,000.00 (One Billion, Seven Hundred and Sixty Million, Seven hundred and Forty thousand Naira) at different times, from Chikezie Nowokocha (April Breakthrough Ventures) on the pretext that you were going to invest the money for him and remit some percentage of the total sum to him on monthly basis as interest, while the principal sum would be returned to him in full at the end of the tenure, a representation which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance fee fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”