EFCC files charges against Otudeko for ‘obtaining over N30bn loan under false pretence’

EFCC files charges against Otudeko for ‘obtaining over N30bn loan under false pretence’

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has
filed a 13-count charge against Oba Otudeko, a former chairman of First Bank
Nigeria (FBN), and three others over alleged fraud.

 

The three other defendants are Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, a
former group managing director of FBN; Soji Akintayo, an ex-board member of
Honeywell Flour Mills plc; and Anchorage Limited, a company linked to Otudeko.

 

The anti-graft agency filed the charges at the federal high
court in Lagos on Thursday.

 

The EFCC said the defendants will be arraigned on Monday.

 

In the charge sheet, the EFCC accused
Otudeko and the other defendants of obtaining tranches of loans—N12.3 billion,
N5.2 billion, N6.2 billion, N6.1 billion, and N1.5 billion—from First Bank
under the pretence that the funds were obtained by some firms.

 

The anti-graft agency said the credit facilities were
obtained between 2013 and 2014.

 

“That you, CHIEF OBA OTUDEKO, STEPHEN OLABISI ONASANYA, SOJI
AKINTAYO AND ANCHORAGE LEISURE LIMITED between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos, within
the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired amongst yourselves to
obtain the sum of N12,300,000,000.00 (Twelve Billion, Three Hundred Million
Naira Only), from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum
represented credit facilities applied for by V-TECH DYNAMIC LINKS LIMITED and
Stallion Nigeria Limited, which representation you know to be false, and you
thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and
other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the
same Act,” the first count reads.

 

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“That you, CHIEF OBA OTUDEKO, STEPHEN OLABISI ONASANYA, SOJI
AKINTAYO, and ANCHORAGE LEISURE LIMITED, on or about 26th day of November, 2013
in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court obtained the sum of
N5,200,000,000,00 (Five Billion, Two Hundred Million Naira Only), from First
Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities
applied for by V- TECH DYNAMIC LINKS LIMITED which representation you know to
be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of
Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable
under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

 

“That you, CHIEF OBA OTUDEKO, STEPHEN OLABISI ONASANYA, SOJI
AKINTAYO AND ANCHORAGE LEISURE LIMITED in between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos,
within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court obtained the total sum of
N6,200,000,000,00 (Six Billion, Two Hundred Million Naira Only), from First
Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities
applied for and disbursed to Stallion Nigeria Limited, which representation you
know to be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a)
of Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable
under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

 

The anti-graft agency has also stated that there will be 12
witnesses for the trial.

 

The witnesses include three EFCC investigators and
representatives of First Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Stallion Nigeria,
and V-tech Dynamics Limited.

 

In August 2024, Adesuwa Ezenwa, a former relationship
manager at First Bank, told the national industrial court that loans worth
billions of naira were transferred to companies related to Otudeko even though
they were granted in the name of other firms.

Source: EFCC files charges against Otudeko for ‘obtaining over N30bn loan under false pretence’

 - NigerianEye
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