Olori Halimat Tejuosho and her company, Haleems Nigeria Limited, are to be served with court documents, according to the Gwagwalada Division of the FCT High Court.

In May 2021, Ms. Tejuosho approached Emmanuel Suku to work with her as a financier after securing a contract for the construction of 500 units of housing at Karshi FCT, Abuja.

She requested an initial advance fee of N300,000,000 and an additional N136,325,000 paid in installments to her personal and company accounts from him.

Mr. Suku claimed that according to the terms of his partnership as stated in a police investigation report that Peoples Gazette saw, he was entitled to 30% of the contract deal, which had a value of N4.47 billion.

When Ms. Tejuosho started to avoid him, the financier became suspicious of foul play and sent his brothers to the building site to monitor the project’s development.

He was, however, shocked to learn that the project had been on hold through a WhatsApp video conference he had with his brothers who were on the project site.

A police investigation report signed by a police commissioner, Mohammed Yakubu, stated; “That no work has been done on the project site since the groundbreaking ceremony. An uncompleted gatehouse structure and two (2) shipping containers were seen on the site. There were, however, no workers, equipment and building supplies seen on the site.”

Later, he discovered that Ms. Tejuosho and her business had been denied the project by the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry because they had broken the terms of the contract.

After learning of the findings, Ms. Tejuosho “could not give a satisfactory account of how she spent the money” and made preparations to leave the country in order to avoid being held accountable to her financier.

Additional financial account investigation revealed how the businesswoman lavished the project’s funds on four exotic cars worth N150,000,000, designer watches, high-end shoes and handbags, a soundproof generator for her home, and other electronic items worth millions purchased from Cash ‘N’ Carry store.

At Espam Formation University in Cotonou, Benin Republic, where she holds the position of chancellor, Ms. Tejuosho also distributed scholarships to 30 students from the project’s funding.

Her statements of accounts also revealed that she wired several million naira to an interior decorator named Ifeoma Vivienne Obilor in order to furnish her Peace Garden Estate, Sangotedo, Lagos home with upscale furniture that was a significant sum.

A portion of Ms. Tejuosho Financier’s funds were linked to a Royal Apparel with the Heritage Bank account number 5100351905, which had received N200 million in instalments and was said to be one of her employees.

After compiling evidence against Ms. Tejuosho for advance fee fraud, criminal financial misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, and cheating, the police commissioner recommended that she be prosecuted.

The case with suit number FCT/HC/CV/589/2022 has been postponed until January 25 for additional hearing.

Ms. Tejuosho called the charges “lies” and denied knowing about “any suit” when contacted for comment according to Peoples Gazette.

She claimed to be the one who had sued Mr. Suku, and that a hearing had been set for January 25.

She said; “He is telling lies and as matter of fact, I sued him and the matter is coming up on the 25th of this month, which he has been duly served.

“I got a contract, he went behind me and got the contract revoked due to his selfish interest.”