A Business Consultant, Mr Olusegun Durodola, on Tuesday narrated how a former employee of Punch Nigeria Ltd, Olusegun Ogunbanjo, allegedly defrauded his old school student’s association of multimillion naira investment.
Durodola, the second prosecution witness, said this before an Ikeja High Court.
He was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution, Dr Babajide Martins.
The defendant was on June 21, 2024 arraigned on an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit felony to wit obtaining under false pretences, stealing and forgery.
The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Olawunmi Ogunbanjo, Vaneloo International Ltd, Valeco Global Ventures, Bagco Garba, Taofeek Ogunbanjo, Ifeanyi Odogwu, Bound Media Ltd, and Godwin Benson are also defendants in the case with ID/21559C/2023.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the witness told the court that he had known the defendant for 39 years, adding that they went to the same school.
He said the defendant claimed to have the approval of the management of Punch to build an in-house staff accommodation at the head office, following the death of a staff member.
“Ogunbanjo falsely represented that the Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) were issued by Punch which he submitted to the police at Panti during investigation.
“The defendant later confessed at Panti that there was no legitimate business and that all the LPOs he issued over the years were forged.
“He admitted to using the money to build houses and buy cars,” the witness said.
The consultant revealed that Ogunbanjo claimed to be the managing director of Punch and presented forged documents to support his claim.
The witness said the defendant was his friend but that the defendant falsely represented himself as the MD of Punch, saying that the previous one had been sacked.
“He said, based on my experience, Punch will give me job that I should send my resume.
“He sent me an email from one Mrs Angela Onwunuor. I didn’t know he was the one impersonating Punch.
“He even told me the chairman of Punch had reviewed my Curriculum Vitae(CV) and that I was being considered for the position of Director of Strategy.
“I received a fake email purportedly from the chairman offering me the job.
“I trusted him as an old schoolmate and I initially invested N5 million into his venture with the promise of profit-sharing only to discover later that the funds has been misappropriated,” he said.
The witness further told the court that he was not the only one the defendant collected money from.
He said the defendant collected N500 million and $50,000 from Mr Olushola Ikuyajesin.
“Ikuyajesin had to fly down to Nigeria to investigate when the defendant started given excuses, only to discover he has been deceiving us.
“After he was arrested, we discovered that he has been living his life with all these money and Punch Newspaper even placed a disclaimer on him.
“He sent his wife to go and give birth abroad and started driving Mercedes Benz 500 Bentley which he said Punch gave him as official.” He said.
The witness said the effect of the alleged fraud made him loose his job as a managing director of a popular communication company
He added that he brought an auditor to Panti who audited the defendant’s account and discovered he had collected a total sum of N1.89 billion from them.
During cross-examination by the defence counsel, Ms M.A. Abia-Bassey, the witness maintained that Ogunbanjo had consistently misrepresented facts and diverted funds meant for the purported Punch contracts into his personal account.
He alleged that Ogunbanjo used investors’ money to fund personal expenses, including overseas travel for childbirth and acquiring properties, some of which were later sold without disclosure.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the case which began in June 2024, had been marred by delays, including the recent death of the defendant’s former counsel, Mr T.E. Okeke, in a car accident.
At the previous hearing, Ogunbanjo’s new counsel, Abia-Bassey, sought an adjournment to familiarise herself with the case and to allow the defendant, who was unwell, to attend to his health.
Justice Ismail Ijelu adjourned the case until Feb.11 for continuation of trial.
The prosecution had told the court that the defendant with others still at large allegedly committed the offences between January 2017 and December 2022 in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The prosecution said that the defendant fraudulently obtained the sum of N417 million from one Mr Durodola Balogun on the pretext of purchasing stationaries and supplies for financing Local Purchase Order from Punch Nigeria Ltd.
The prosecutor also alleged that the defendant fraudulently collected N581 million from one Mr Olusola lkuyajesin under the guise of purchasing stationary and supplies for financing Local Purchase Order from Punch Nigeria Ltd.
The state counsel also told the court that the defendant allegedly stole and converted some thousands of dollars, property of lkuyajesin to his personal use.
According to the prosecutor, the alleged offences violate Sections 411 (2) 314, 285, 287 and 365 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State (2015) (NAN)
