The traders wrote through their lawyer, Joe Eba, to the anti-graft agency, Enugu zonal office, that “Fraudulent Savings Scheme/Obtaining by false pretences by Mega Assets Managers Limited RC 701444,” claiming that the financial institution had collected huge sums of money from one Chuks Festus Onuoha, a businessman and many others for daily savings; but the company about May, 2011, allegedly absconded with their money.
Eba alleged that when his clients went to the office of the asset managers at Princess Plaza, 82A Goldie Street, Calabar, to collect their money in accordance with the agreement, the office was under lock and key; with no person in sight. He said since then, the office had remained locked with no sign of its occupiers ever showing up.
He called on the EFCC to assist his clients, who he said were passing through difficult times as a result of losing their money to the finance institution; though he claimed that he had previously written to the EFCC with no response.
According to him, many petitions had been forwarded to the commission in respect of the matter, pleading for its intervention in recovering the money, both in the Enugu and Abuja offices, and personal discussions with the person in-charge of operations, but all to no avail.
Although he said, he still has confidence in the Commission, but wondered why it has taken many months for it (EFCC) to, either acknowledge the petition written to it concerning the allegation, or commence the process of arresting the chief executive officer of the company, whose headquarters is said to be in Lagos with branches in major cities of Nigeria; so as to recover his clients’ money.
In the petition to EFCC, the legal practitioner stated that his clients were drafted into a savings scheme by being given in their office a form to fill and a passbook for which their daily collections were recorded; and that the first phase of the daily contributions started on September, 16, 2009 to March 16, 2010, which payment was made promptly on request by his clients.
“Having succeeded in their usual strategy of initial prompt delivery, to show seriousness on the part of the company, so as to encourage further patronage, our clients were convinced once again to increase their daily savings to one year starting from April 28, 2010 to April 27 2011.”
He said one of the victims, Onuoha had embarked on N3, 000 (three thousand naira) daily contributions, which amounted to N1.095 million; but upon the completion of the one year, when he approached the office of the company to recover his savings, he discovered that the office had been locked up with no staff of the company to attend to him.
The legal counsel said, after several efforts to get at the manager of the company could not yield any fruit, the matter was reported at the Zone 6 Police Headquarters, Calabar, where the Mega Assets Managers Limited manager, Iniobong Ubaha, was allegedly arrested alongside others.
“They were later released on the promise that they were going to get in touch with their MD/CEO, in the person of Adedapo Adelaja Solanke, whose address was given as 4, Dapo Solanke Close, Lekki Penninsula Phase 1, Lekki Lagos.”
Efforts by our correspondents to reach the management of the finance institution did not yield any result; meanwhile, the company’s signpost has also been removed from the office.
