The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a 13-count criminal charge against the Chairman, Honeywell Group, Chief Oba Otudeko and a former Managing Director of First Bank, Olabisi Onasanya for allegedly obtaining the sum of N12.3bn from First Bank.
The duo are to be arraigned on Monday, Jan 20th before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
They will be arraigned alongside, a former member of the board of directors of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, Soji Akintayo and a company linked to Otudeko, named Anchorage Leisure Ltd.
All four were listed as defendants in the suit filed by an EFCC prosecutor, Bilkisu Buhari-Bala on Jan. 16, 2025.
According to the EFCC, the four committed the fraud in tranches of N5.2b, N6.2b, N6.150b, N1.5b and N500million, between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos.
In proof of the charge against the defendants, the EFCC intends to call representatives of First Bank including Cecelia Majekodunmi, Ola Michael Aderogba, Abiodun Olatunji, Raymond Eze, Abiodun Odunbola and Adeeyo David all of whom are expected to give evidence of the fraudulent misrepresentation of the Defendants and tender relevant documents.
The EFCC will also rely on the testimonies of representatives of Central Bank of Nigeria, representatives of Stallion Nigeria Limited and representatives of V-tech Dynamics Ltd.
Also included in the EFCC’s list of witnesses are one Farida Abubakar and Adaeze Nwakoby.
According to the Commission, the offences contravene Section 8(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and were punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.
Some of the charges include: “That you, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited, on or about December 11, 2013, in Lagos, procured Honeywell Flour Mills Plc to retain the sum of N1.5 billion.
“This, you reasonably ought to have known, was part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities, specifically obtaining by false pretenses. You thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 18(c) and Section 15(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
“That you, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited, on or about December 17, 2013, in Lagos, converted the sum of N500 million to the use of Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, which you reasonably ought to have known was part of the proceeds of your unlawful activities, specifically obtaining by false pretences. You thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.”
“That you, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited, on or about September 3, 2013, in Lagos, conspired to ‘utter’ a forged document titled ‘Letter of Application’ with the intent that it would be used by First Bank, believing the document was genuine and emanated from V-Tech Dynamic Links Limited.”