A transport company, Cross Country Limited has told a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos that it was not indebted to A.G. Moeller Limited to the tune of N80 million.
Former Chief Accountant with Cross Country Limited, Mr. Godsday Chukwusa made this known while testifying in court presided over by Justice Okon Abang at the resumed hearing of an alleged N80 million fraud charges brought against the defendant, A.G. Moeller Limited.
Chikwusa in his testimony told the court that his former company, Cross Country Ltd had sometime in March 2007 written a Finance Lease request letters to the defunct Oceanic Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, EBN Finance Limited (a subsidiary of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc) and AG. MOELLER for finance lease facilities for various acquisitions of motor vehicles.
The witness said as the Chief Accountant during the period of the transaction, he was privy to all the documents to the transactions which was to acquire 40 units of Volkswagen mini buses at N3,500 million for commercial services within Nigeria.
According to him, AG Moeller Limited offered it the sum of N140 million to finance the acquisition of 40 transport buses for commercial use.
He said AG Moeller like the banks and finance houses, replied via an “Offer of Finance Lease Facility” letter dated March 29, 2007, approving the request sum of N140 million for a tenor of 24 months at 60% interest rate per annum.
The total sum payable to AG Moeller Ltd at the end of the tenor according to the witness stood at N228 million.
Chukwusa further told the court that Cross Country Ltd had paid a total sum of N223 million as against N228 million payable, adding that the total outstanding due, including the difference in what was paid, added to default charges stood at N19 million.
The witness said but AG Moeller through the Managing Director Mr. Adeloye Richard Olukemi, wrote a demand letter requesting to be paid an outstanding sum of N213 million being the self-claimed outstanding balance as against N19 million confirmed to be rightly due.
He said it was for that reason that Cross country counter petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for proper investigation into the claims of AG Moeller Ltd.
An Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ben Okoro, had at the last sitting of the matter also told the court that the defendant and his company, AG Moeller Ltd were investigated for allegedly running an illegal finance house that was neither licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nor registered by the Finance Houses Association of Nigeria (FHAN).
Okoro told the court that police investigation revealed that AG Moeller had acted like a licensed finance company by the Central Bank of Nigeria and a member of Finance Houses Association of Nigeria and should not have indulged in any business of such with Cross Country Limited in the first place.
But on receipt of the response from the CBN with reference number “Our Ref: OFID/GDB/GEN/FIN/01/535 denying ever licensing AG Moeller for such business activities via the CBN letter dated May 23, 2011 and Finance Houses Association of Nigeria letter dated March 4th 2011 that the Nigerian Police resolved to Charge AG Moeller and its promoters on a five count charge before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi.
The charge reads: “That you Adeloye Richard Olukemi ‘M’ and others at large on the 29th day of March, 2007 at No. 2 Ebun Street, Surulere, Lagos State in the Lagos Judicial Division did conspire amongst yourselves to commit offence to wit: transacting financial business without a valid license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and thereby committed an offense punishable under section 517 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“That you Adeloye Richard Olukemi ‘M’ between March, 2007 and January 2010 at the same place in the aforesaid Judicial Division with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of Eighty Million Naira from one Bube Okorodudu, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cross Country Limited in excess of the capital sum of One hundred and forty million naira (#140m) advanced to him through the medium of a contract of finance lease facility induced by false pretence and thereby committed an offense contrary to section 1 (a-c) & section 1(2) and punishable under section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud & other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”
The matter has been adjourned till February 19, 2015