Bola Tinubu, Alpha-beta, others accused of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering

 Tinubu, Alpha-beta, others accused of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering Dapo Apara, a Nigerian chartered accountant, has accused a forme...

 Tinubu, Alpha-beta, others accused of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering

Dapo Apara, a Nigerian chartered accountant, has accused a former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu; a consulting firm, Alpha-beta, and a former commissioner in the state, Akin Doherty, of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion, and sundry corrupt practices.

Mr Apara, in writ of summons deposed to at a Lagos high court, claimed that Mr Tinubu and Alpha-beta reneged on certain agreements reached in the past about the management and control of the consulting firm.

Alpha-beta is a consulting firm handling the computation, tracking and reconciliation of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in Lagos State in return for a commission.

Mr Apara, who claims to own 30 per cent stake in the company, alleged that Mr Tinubu “has directed and dictated the affairs” of the company by diverting assets to himself at the detriment of the claimant (Mr Apara).

Mr Apara claimed that apart from owning 30 per cent stake in the company, other stakeholders are Michael Ogunmola, trading under the name and style Mono Consulting (40 per cent); Tunde Badejo, trading under the name and style Ebo Consult (15 per cent); and again, Tunde Badejo, trading under the name and style Intergrev Services (15 per cent).

He also claimed that the company was being used for “massive corruption purposes including tax evasion, bribery of government officials, diversion of funds” and money laundering.

The 40-page writ of summons, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, was issued by Mr Apara’s lawyer, Tade Ipadeola.

Details of the claims include an order compelling an account of all sums due to Mr Apara from 2010 till date; an order tracing all funds and assets due to him from the inception of the company to date; an order of specific performance of certain clauses of the partnership agreement that created the company by extant partners; an order for payment to the claimants by the defendants, all sums adjudged to be due to him on the submission of the accounts; and payment of 10 percent interest on the sums adjudged to be due to him.

The first, second and third defendants, according to the writ, include Alpha-beta Consulting, Mr Tinubu and Mr Doherty, respectively.

Mr Tinubu was Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007 while Mr Doherty served in different capacities in Mr Tinubu’s government, notably as commissioner for finance between 2005 and 2007.

Tade Ipadeola.

Mr Apara claimed that sometime in 2000, he solely conceived, prepared and presented a proposal to the Lagos State Government on providing consultancy services using his firm, Infiniti Systems Enterprises, with respect to using computerisation to track and reconcile the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.

Following the presentation of his proposal to the Lagos State Government, Mr Apara claimed that Mr Tinubu, who was at the time the governor of Lagos State, demanded that 70 per cent equity interest in the project be assigned to a certain Olumide Ogunmola before he will approve the project.

Mr Apara said he then met the said Mr Ogunmola, who he had never met before, and it was agreed that a limited liability company be incorporated in which Mr Apara will hold 30 per cent shares while Mr Ogunmola and his partners will hold 70 per cent of the shares of the company.

Alpha Beta Consulting Limited was incorporated in 2002 with the shareholding ratio that shows that 30 per cent was allocated to him (Mr Apara), 40 per cent for Mr Ogunmola, and 30 per cent for Adegboyega Oyetola.

It remains unclear if the said Mr Oyetola is the incumbent governor of Osun State, a close ally of Mr Tinubu.

Mr Apara said that upon the commencement of business operations, Mr Tinubu directed that the 30 per cent shareholding of Mr Oyetola be transferred to one Tunde Badejo and this was done. He added that although he was a signatory to all the bank accounts of the company, payments from the bank accounts required only 2 signatories which was mostly handled between the other two partners, Messrs Ogunmola and Badejo.

After the incorporation of Alpha-Beta Consulting Ltd in 2002 and the company, Mr Apara said it was structured according to the dictates of Mr Tinubu, in his official capacity as the governor of Lagos State. Mr Tinubu thereafter approved that Alpha-Beta Consulting Ltd be awarded consultancy contract for the assessment and collection on behalf of the Lagos State Government, all taxes and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) due and payable to the State at a 10% consultancy fee (subject to a benchmark which varies from time to time).

He noted further that due to the technology deployed by him, the Internally Generated Revenue of the state grew from a base of about N10 billion in 2002 to over N300 billion in 2019.

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