A federal high court in Lagos on
Monday froze the bank accounts of Lagos State Government Number Plate
Production Authority (LSGNPPA) over an alleged fraud of N3 billion.
Justice Mohammed Idris gave the
order following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC).
Idris said the account would
remain frozen pending the conclusion of EFCC’s investigation into the alleged
N3 billion fraud.
The order affected 32 bank
accounts of companies which were allegedly used to divert the N3 billion from
LSGNPPA.
In an affidavit attached to the
application, the EFCC said its preliminary investigation revealed that the
funds were diverted when Folorunsho Coker, was the managing director. He is now
the director general of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC).
The companies whose accounts were
also frozen include a law firm, Rimi and Partners. The EFCC said Coker’s wife,
Aisha Rimi, was the sole proprietor.
Olamide Sadiq, the EFCC
investigator, who deposed to an affidavit in support, said the probe into the
alleged fraud was informed by an intelligence received sometime in 2017 by the
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
Sadiq said there were suspicious
transactions on the account of Rimi and Partners as there were “heavy inflows”
in excess of N3 billion from LSGNPPA into the account.
Sadiq said investigations by EFCC
revealed that Rimi and Partners had 10 bank accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank.
“Mr. Folorunsho Coker was as at
that time the managing director of the 1st respondent — LSGNPPA,” he said.
“He was also the husband of Aisha
Rimi, one of the signatories to the accounts of the 2nd and 3rd respondents —
Rimi and Partners and Ekosina Investment Ltd respectively.
“Further to the depositions
contained in the paragraph above, I know as a fact derived during my
investigations, that the said Mr. Folorunsho Coker was also a signatory to the
Bank account of the 1st respondent.
“Investigations revealed that
Aisha Rimi is the major partner in Rimi and Partners and she is also in control
of Ekosina Investment Ltd, a company seen to have received huge transfers from
the LSGNPPA.
“From preliminary investigations
by the commission, the 2nd and 3rd respondents were used to divert funds from
the LSGNPPA with the influence of Folorunsho Coker, who was the Managing
Director of the Lagos State Agency.”
Other companies whose accounts
were frozen are Ekosina Investment Ltd, SW Properties Ltd, Imira Trade and
Global Services Ltd, Lofty Investment Nigeria Ltd, Pure Technical Services Ltd
and Cablepoint Ltd.
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