N165m scam: Businessman offered us N5m bribe-Police

More facts have emerged about the businessman, Saheed Audallahi, who allegedly defrauded a Chinese company, JI Chu Industries Limited of N165, 480,000.

Audallahi, 38, father of two, a widower, was alleged by the police to have offered them N5m bribe in his desperation to squash the case.

When the police turned down his offer, he allegedly reached out to some top politicians, who started calling and putting the unit under pressure to release the suspect.

The suspect was said to have been arrested after two months on his trail. He was arrested through tracking.

While his account was being tracked, it was discovered that immediately the Chinese company paid N165, 480,000 into his account, he moved some of the money into the account of a car dealer.

When police invited the car dealer, the man confessed that Audallahi paid for a car he bought.

The suspect was arrested by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Milverton, Ikoyi, Lagos, after it received petition from Akande and Akande Chambers, on behalf of its clients, JI Chu Industries, which manufactured foot wears at its factory in Ejigbo, Lagos.

A police source said: “The police have been under pressure to release the suspect. The police have received calls from top politicians and Nigerians. It’s however clear that the suspect had been in this sort of illegal business for ages. He had to be stopped.”

The SFU spokesman, Lawal Audu, said the suspect defrauded JI Chu Industries Nigeria Limited N165, 480,000 under the pretext of changing it to its dollars equivalent.

Audu further said that when detectives from the unit went to the suspect’s home at Magodo, Lagos, a shrine was discovered, while 30 passports and four cars were recovered. The Chinese company manufactures foot wears and is located at Ejigbo, Lagos.

It was also gathered that drama played at between the detectives who went to his Magodo residence to effect his arrest with a search warrant.

The suspect was alleged to have refused to open his gate, forcing policemen to scale the fence.

He was also alleged to have refused to submit his passport, claiming that he gave to someone to carry out some activities.

When policemen however searched one of the cars recovered from him, they found the passport.

Audallahi insisted that all allegations leveled against him by the police were fabricated, geared towards pinning crimes he didn’t commit on him. He also accused police of stealing his passport.

Audu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police,  said, “ The petitioner alleged that one Saheed Audallahi, aka Ibile, who operates   under a business name, BMTC Logistics, obtained the sum of  N165,480,000 under the pretext of transferring the sum of $400,000 to JI Chus business partner in China.  As soon as the suspect received the said sum, he generated a fake telex transfer slip and gave same to the complainant as a proof of transfer of the money to China. When the complainant received the telex, he contacted his business partner, who denied receiving any money. It was at this point the complainant realised he had been swindled by the suspect, hence the petition. The suspect’s arrest was dramatic as he tried to prevent policemen from gaining access into his home. When policemen got into his home, they made a shocking discovery of a fully equipped shrine, which is believed to be a powerful tool for deceiving his victims. Various incriminating items, such as 30 passports, four cars, different forged certificates purportedly authourising him to recruit students from Nigeria to institutions in America and Cyprus, were found.”

Stating his own side of the story, Audallahi said: “I’m a Customs clearing agent. The Chinese man came to us because he didn’t want to pay Customs duty. He asked us to send dollars through London. I handed money to our partner in UK, but the bank in UK queried the slip. Our partner said it would take four months to sort everything out. I carved out N60m from my pocket to give to the Chinese guy. The police are just playing games. My case is political.”

Speaking on the charms recovered from Audallahi’s residence, Audu said: “When we got there, we discovered a room was locked. Our men had a search warrant; we asked to open the door, he refused. He claimed the room contained his children wears. We forced the door open. It was a full shrine! A man came to the residence to meet our men in action. The man burst into tears. The man said he was defrauded by Audallahi and any time he comes to demand for his money, he would start experiencing a terrifying headache. He said he was just coming from church after seven days fasting given to him by his pastor. In fact, under every seat in his apartment, there was a charm.”

 Audallahi said the shrine was his religion and his protection. He said that as a Nigerian, he could practice whatever religion he likes. He further said that the shrine was to protect himself.

Reacting to allegations that he attempted to bribe police, Audallahi said: “I don’t even have N5m, let alone to offer any money to the police. I gave all I had to the complainant.”

The police said further investigations revealed that the suspect was involved in numerous criminal activities, ranging from illegal bank transfers, hacking, and visa racketeering to issuance of fake foreign academic certificates.

Audu noted: “The suspect is also operating fake freight forwarding at our airports and seaports. The suspect is neither a licensed BDC operator nor a licensed customs clearing agent.”