The
Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police has declared a former Deputy Governor
of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, wanted for allegedly defrauding a land
buyer of N130m. The SFU
alleged in a statement on Wednesday that the suspect and her son, Samson,
obtained money from the victim by false representation.
The
Commissioner of Police for the command, Tunde Ogunsakin, said, “The victim
alleged that in September 2011, the suspects conspired and sold a parcel of
land at Plot 24 Block 4 situated at Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos for
N130m which he paid into the first suspect’s account with the Union Bank of
Nigeria Plc.
“He further stated that after payment, he requested title document and Alhaja Ojikutu procured an affidavit of support to back her fraudulent claim, a police crime extract and a publication in a newspaper all purporting to loss of the original documents of title to the land. The victim believed her because of her personality as the former Deputy Governor of Lagos State.
“The
bubble burst when the victim commenced development of the land and was on the
verge of completion when the bona fide owner of the land surfaced and indeed it
was discovered that the land the suspect sold did not belong to her. She
actually sold Plot 23 Block 4 while Plot 24 Block 4 already has a property on
it.”
According
to police investigation, the land Ojikutu sold, did not belong to her, but to
one Mr. Afolabi. It was also discovered that the Plot 24 Block 4, which
actually belonged to Alhaja Ojikutu’s late husband, Samson Ojikutu (senior),
was sold by him in 1995 and the suspect was a life witness and appended her
signature to the sale of the land.
Ogunsakin
said the suspect further perpetrated the crime by alleging that the original
Certificate of Occupancy to the property was missing and swore an affidavit
which enabled her to obtain a police report and memorandum of loss. She
also put up an advert in newspapers that the original C of O was lost, whereas
the original C of O was with the Hallmark Homes, the buyer of the property.
He said,
“The suspect, who is a 67-year-old retiree from Lagos Island, allegedly
connived with her son, Samson, who is currently in the United States to commit
the fraud. The suspect and her son were parties to the sale of the land
and both signed the agreement given to the complainant and obtained the sum of
N130m from him.
“She
admitted committing the crime but confessed that it was a genuine mistake of
plot identification. She refunded the sum of N50m to the complainant and
promised to refund the balance as soon as she disposed of her two properties
she put up for sale. She also confessed that she had invested the victim’s
money in her business.
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