The embattled Chairman of Innoson
Group, Innocent Chukwuma, has faulted the fraud charge slammed on him and two
others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He also denied stealing
containers of motorcycle spare parts and raw materials.
Chukwuma, in a statement on
Wednesday by the Head of Corporate Communications, Innoson Group, Cornel
Osigwe, stated that the EFCC’s action was taken in bad faith.
He said the alleged fraud charge
filed by the EFCC is a ploy orchestrated by the commission to “justify the
Gestapo style of arrest used in bundling Dr. Chukwuma out of his residence.”
He added that the anti-graft
agency’s action was taken in bad faith to change the narrative in order to
portray Innoson in bad light and divert the attention of the public who have
continued to condemn the illegal action taken by the commission.
The statement further queried the
rationale behind the allegations in the charge against the Innoson boss.
The statement reads: “Nigeria
needs to ask EFCC if GTB, as a bank, has any licence to import motorcycle spare
parts or CKD.
“A cursory look at the charges
filed by EFCC at court is both laughable and constitutes a national
embarrassment.
“The motorcycles, being deemed
the property of GTB, were ordered by Innoson from its manufacturers and
suppliers with a loan from GTB.
“Under letter of credit
transaction, in international trade, bills of ladings are consigned to banks,
not because the banks – consignees – are the owners of the goods, but rather to
ensure that the seller is paid and the buyer receives the goods.
“Mere consignment or endorsement
of a bill of lading does not confer title in the goods covered by the bill of
laden to either the consignee or the endorsee. Where consignment or endorsement
of a bill of laden is intended as a security for loan, consignment or
endorsement in such circumstance, does not transfer title in the goods to the
consignee or the endorsee.
“All Innoson’s letter of credit
transactions, through GTB, were confirmed LCs. In letter of credit transactions
(LC), particularly but not exclusively confirmed LC, the term is cash against
documents.
“Shipping documents are not
released by the advising/correspondent bank to the issuing bank, until the
issuing bank pays for the goods. At all material times, Innoson paid 25% of
every LC value before it was opened,” the statement added.
“We have it now on good authority
that there is a grand conspiracy by an international competitor of Innoson
vehicles who have conspired with a financial institution to pull down Innoson
vehicles at all cost because of the latest increase of patronage of Innoson
vehicles by the Federal Government.
“But we are amazed that EFCC, a
Federal Government agency which is supposed at all times to defend indigenous
Nigerian companies who are working hard to make Nigeria great, will allow
itself to be used as a tool to kill and destroy these companies.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com