Hearing continued on Wednesday at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, in the N2 billion libel suit by Zinox Technologies Limited against Premium Times.
While the suit continues, the medium has exclusively obtained a police investigations report that indicted the chairman of Zinox, Leonard Ekeh, and some of the company’s other officials of involvement in a N170 million fraud that led to the ongoing libel suit.
On Tuesday, Zinox Technologies spokesperson, Gideon Ayogu, continued his testimony in the libel suit that began on October 4, 2019.
After Mr Ayogu’s testimony, which lasted barely five minutes, lawyer to Zinox Technologies, Patrick Ikwueto, a senior advocate of Nigeria, presented some documents he said was part of the evidence in its case.
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Before adjourning the case to March 15, 16, 17 and 24, 2021 for the continuation of hearing, Justice S.C. Oriji accepted the documents in evidence.
But, hearing in the case is continuing amid fresh evidence obtained by the medium that shows that Mr Ekeh, along with all the officials named in previous reports, were indeed complicit in the reported fraud case that led to the libel suit.
Backstory
On May 15, 2017, Zinox Technologies Limited sued this newspaper over a report in its September 15, 2016 edition.
The report said the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), quizzed Mr Ekeh, alongside two senior officials of a Zinox affiliate, Technology Distribution, as well as two officials of Access bank, over alleged N170.3 million contract fraud.
The report was based on a petition dated July 3, 2014, by the Managing Director of an Ibadan-based IT retail firm, Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, Benjamin Joseph, against the officials.
In the petition to the then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of Force Criminal Investigation Bureau (FCIB), Solomon Arase, Mr Joseph accused Messrs Onny Igbokwe and Princess Kama of conspiring with the Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, Zinox Group and TD, Chris Ozims, and other officials to hijack and illegally execute the contract awarded to his company by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2012.
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Mr Igbokwe is the chief executive of a Port Harcourt-based IT company, Ad’mas Digital Technologies Limited, as well as Pirovics Engineering Services Limited, while Ms. Kama allegedly facilitated the fraud.
Mr Joseph also accused a director of TD, Folashade Oyebode, and two staff of Access Bank Plc, Obilo Onuoha and Deborah Ijeabu, of involvement in the alleged crime.
The businessman said the suspects committed the fraud by using a fake account they opened at Access Bank with his company’s forged documents, including a fake board resolution that appointed them “managers of the account.”
To facilitate payment of the proceeds from the contract by the FIRS, Mr Joseph said the suspects approached officials of the Awolowo Road, Ikoyi branch of Access Bank (Messrs Onuoha and Ijeabu) to release to them the original copies of documents used by Citadel Oracle to open its corporate account.
To open the controversial account, Mr Joseph said a fake board resolution purportedly issued by Citadel Oracle management was procured, with Messrs Ozims, Oyebode and Igbokwe conferred the power of attorney to act as “directors” of the company and authorised signatories to the account.
Further reporting, based on the review of documents used in issuing instructions for the disbursement of funds from the fictitious account at Access Bank to various benefiting parties in the fraud, showed that even the Managing Director of Zinox Group, Chioma Ekeh, who is also the chairperson’s wife, was also involved in the scandal.
The documents show that she was the one who gave instructions to the company’s accountant, Charles Adigwe, to disburse various sums to different bank accounts belonging to various parties involved in the deal.
Although the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the police in Lagos said its investigations since 2014 confirmed the accused were culpable of the offence, their prosecution was stalled as the police refused to release the original case file to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
