Economy
Court Remands Fund Managers Over N891m Capital Market Investment
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Two fund managers, Mr Solomon Edet Solomon and Mr Zakari Haruna, have been remanded in Suleija Correctional Centre after they were arraigned for collecting about N891 million from members of the public through an unregistered investment company, Vektr Capital Global Group, contrary to the laws of Nigeria.
They were brought before Justice Zainab Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Court 4, Abuja, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sealed up the Wuse Zone 5 office of Vektr Capital in March 2022 on suspicions of illegally collecting money from the investing public.
At the court, after the four-count charge was read to the suspects, Justice Abubakar fixed March 16, 2023, for the commencement of the trial.
In the charges, the defendants were alleged to have, on or between the years 2021 and 2022 within the jurisdiction of the court with intent to defraud, conspired amongst themselves together with one Kayode Sal Viktor and other staff to obtain the sum of over N891,729,000 from investing public, including Cordelia Ukomaka Ducke Eze and others under the false pretence that they were fund managers which you are not and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.
“That you, M/s Vektr Capital Global Nigeria Ltd, on or between the year 2021 and 2022 within the jurisdiction of this court, did commit a felony to wit. Conspired among yourselves together with Kayode Sal Viktor and your other staff to do an illegal act- to lure and offer a subscription to an unregistered collective investment scheme valued over N891,000,000 to investing public, including Cordelia Ukomaka Ducke Eze and others and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
“That you, M/s Vektr Capital Global Nigeria Ltd, on or between the year 2021 and 2022 within the jurisdiction of this court, did commit a felony to wit. Conspired among yourselves together with Kayode Sal Viktor and your other staff to do an illegal act- to lure and offer a subscription to an unregistered collective investment scheme valued over N891,000,000 to investing public, including Cordelia Ukomaka Ducke Eze and others and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 54 of the Investments and Securities Act, 2007,” the charge stated.
When the bail application came up for determination, the Justice said she had not been convinced, going by the affidavit that the accused will attend court to attend the trial and not jump bail.
Earlier, counsel to Mr Solomon urged the court to grant the defendant bail, stating that the defendant is only an employee of the company and not the owner.
However, Justice Abubakar declined to say that being an employee of the company is not enough for her to grant him bail but told the counsel that she needs to be convinced that if the defendant is granted bail, he will be available to attend the hearing and not jump bail.
“You know the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice on bail applications. He must meet those considerations. Show me in your affidavit of support where all these conditions have been listed as met to give me the assurance that the second defendant will at all times attend this trial in person. If I grant him bail based on what you have submitted, will I not be seen to be reckless as a judge?
“Granting bail is a discretionary power, and you must earn it; you must convince me. So many people jump bail cases will come up, and it cannot go on because the person has jumped bail. If you convince me because your conviction is on oath, I believe you. My concern is what you depose in your affidavit. I cannot, on the basis of this deposition, grant this person bail, and I cannot.
“According to Section 160, paragraph 8F, the applicant must have these facts in his affidavit to convince the court to grant him bail. If I grant bail and he decides to jump bail tomorrow, anyone that sees this application will say he did not commit himself,” she said.
Justice Abubakar stated that there are no vital assurances to convince the court to grant the defendant bail as contained in Section 160 of the Criminal Administrative Justice Act 2013 and enumerated in Paragraph 8f of the said Act, emphasising that It is important that the deposition must contain that vital information to convince and assure the court to grant the second defendant bail.
She subsequently ruled saying, “In the absence of this, this court cannot grant the second defendant bail. Accordingly, bail is refused”.
On the third defendant Mr Haruna, the judge stated that based on the propositions contained in the application submitted to the court for bail, particularly paragraphs 12-17, the court is inclined to grant bail to him.
“Accordingly, bail is granted to the third applicant in the sum of N100 million and one surety in the like sum. The surety must be a responsible, reputable person in the society as deposed to in the affidavit; the surety must own a landed property within the jurisdiction of this court whose title documents must be deposited with the Deputy Chief Registrar Litigation of this court after due verification.
“Both the third defendant and the surety must deposit two copies of their recent passport photographs with the Deputy Chief Registrar Litigation of this honourable court. The defendant must also deposit his international Passport with the Deputy Chief Registrar Litigation of this court. Bail is granted; those are the only conditions imposed”.
“Both the Second and Third defendants are to be remanded in Suleija Correctional Centre. A remand of the third defendant at the Suleija Correctional Centre is pending when he fulfils his bail conditions. Anytime he fulfils his bail conditions, he is free to go and enjoy his day,” Justice Abubakar stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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