The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed a 13-count criminal charge against the Chairman of Honeywell Group, Chief Oba Otudeko, and a former Managing Director of First Bank, Olabisi Onasanya, over allegations of fraud amounting to N12.3 billion.
The duo, along with former Honeywell Flour Mills Plc board member Soji Akintayo and Anchorage Leisure Ltd, a company linked to Otudeko, are scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, January 20, before Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
According to the EFCC, the alleged fraud took place between 2013 and 2014, involving multiple tranches of money obtained under false pretenses from First Bank. The amounts in question include N5.2 billion, N6.2 billion, N6.15 billion, N1.5 billion, and N500 million.
The anti-graft agency claims that the defendants conspired to obtain these funds by falsely representing them as credit facilities for V-Tech Dynamic Links Ltd and Stallion Nigeria Ltd. The EFCC intends to present key witnesses, including representatives from First Bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Stallion Nigeria Ltd, and V-Tech Dynamics Ltd, to support its case.
The charges cite violations of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act of 2006 and the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of 2011, with penalties outlined under Sections 1(3) and 15(3) of the respective laws.
