AGF Malami Alleges N162m In Federal Contract Fraud Against Zinox CEO Leo Stan Ekeh, Wife In Court

Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami has filed a lawsuit against Leonard Stanley Ekeh, the chairman of the Zinox Group, and his wife Chioma for allegedly defrauding the federal government of N162 million, according to documents obtained by Peoples Gazette.

“That you LEO STAN EKEH “M”, PRINCESS O KAMA “” and CHIOMA EKEH “F” on or about the 18 day of December, 2012 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court aided and facilitated the doing of an illegal act, to wit; fraudulent diversion of the contract for supply of laptops awarded to Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd and in so doing committed an offence contrary to Section 83 and punishable under Section 85 of the Penal Code Cap 532 LFW Abuja (1990) thereof,” stated a part of the petition filed by the attorney general at the FCT High Court.

Femi Falana, an attorney for the attorney general, filed a 17-count complaint against Mr. Ekeh for conspiring with his wife, Chioma, and nine other people to steal a contract for the supply of laptops given to Citadel Oracle Concepts Limited by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in 2012.

Chris Eze Ozims, the company secretary and legal advisor for Zinox Group and Technologies Distributions Limited (TD), Folashade Oyebode and Onny Igbokwe, Charles Adigwe and Princess Kama, Obilo Onuoha, Admas Technologies, Technology Distributions, and Pirovic Engineering Services Limited are listed as additional defendants in the petition.

The petition alleged that Mr. Ekeh hijacked the deal by opening a new Access Bank account with the account number 0059202675 and fabricating a false board of directors resolution under the name Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd.

“That you MR CHRIS EZE OZIMS, LEO STAN EKEH M, CHIOMA EKEH, FOLASHADE OYEBODE F, PRINCESS KAMA, CHIEF ONNY IGBOKWE M, CHARLES ADIGWE W, and OSILO ORUOHA sometime between April 2012 to December, 2012 conspired to and forged for use account opening documents belonging to and in the name of Citadel Oracle Concepts Ltd,” the petition stated.

In 2013, Mr. Ekeh and his staff were accused of forging Mr. Joseph’s signature in order to collect the contract’s money, using his company’s name without his knowledge or consent, according to Benjamen Joseph, managing director of Citadel Oracle Limited. 

Mr. Joseph accused the police, under the watch of Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase, of sweeping the matter under the carpet and stressed that Mr. Ekeh was a powerful man whose influence extended to the top of the police hierarchy. 

The Citadel Oracle boss accused the IGP of frustrating all attempts to pursue justice over the stolen contract.

As a result of the police’s failure to act on their findings, Mr. Joseph petitioned the IGP in May 2015 asking that the case be handed over to the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) so that the suspects could be questioned. 

The police refused the transfer request because Mr. Arase insisted that in order to avoid a miscarriage of justice, the initial lawsuit must be allowed to complete its entire course before prosecution.

The police charged Mr. Joseph on June 16, 2016, just days before Mr. Arase announced his retirement, with one count of false petitioning of the IGP. Police listed Ms. Ekeh and Mr. Ozims, two suspects in the alleged contract scam, as prosecution witnesses.

The trial against the head of Citadel Oracle lasted more than six years before the current attorney general ordered the DPP to take over the case. Although Simon Lough, a lawyer for the police, appeared at the FCT High Court on Tuesday to announce the continuation of Mr. Joseph’s trial, the police continued to refuse to transfer the case.

An adjournment until November 3 was necessary after Justice Peter Kekemeke requested that Mr. Lough present a letter indicating Mr. Malami’s desire to return the case to the police after he had already instructed the DPP to do so.

“AGF is entitled to withdraw the fiat and take over the prosecution of the case from us,” argued Mr Falana, countering the police’s insistence on being in charge of the case. “However, since he has not done so, and we are not aware he is contemplating any such action, we are proceeding with the prosecution of the case whenever the date to do so is given by the court.”

The chairman of Zinox, meanwhile, has denied stealing any contracts from Citadel Oracle Limited, asserting that investigations by the police and EFCC cleared his employees and business of wrongdoing..The chairman of Zinox, meanwhile, has denied stealing any contracts from Citadel Oracle Limited, asserting that investigations by the police and EFCC cleared his employees and business of wrongdoing.

“In fact, in all the investigations by the Nigeria Police and the EFCC, Mr Leo Stan Ekeh, Technology Distributions Limited (TD) and its staff, Mrs Chioma Ekeh, Mr Chris Eze Ozims, Mrs Folashade Oyebode, and Mr Charles Adigwe have been formally and severally vindicated and absolved of any wrongdoing as the entire allegations were found to be false,” Mr Ekeh said in a rebuttal statement.