With what seemed like an opportunity to invest his hard-earned money in numerous opportunities marketed by his friend in 2019, Adewole Adewusi was captivated by the prospect of financial growth that he joined the Alpha Trust Insurance Club (ATIC).
His friend had marketed ATIC as an emerging investment club in the process of getting registered with the Lagos State Government and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
But his belief was that the former Anambra state police commissioner, who was a senior officer at the time, would only join as a member, not as head of the club since it is against Nigerian law for a police officer to own or manage a business.
After he was asked to pay N5,000 for the application form and N100,000 to acquire 50,000 ordinary shares of the club, Adewusi enlisted and subscribed to several offers marketed to all members.
However, during the course of this investigation, Adeoye refunded the amount paid for the shares, which according to Adewusi, violated the agreed terms as the shares were now worth more.
“He paid that back to signify that we have been officially expelled. Despite saying that the shares were now worth N8 each, he paid us using the rate at which we bought at the year of joining. So I got N100,000 for 50,000 shares instead of N200,000 as per current valuation.
His investment, which amounted to N13.4 million (thirteen million, four hundred thousand naira) included N3 million worth of investment in New Jerusalem Estate, Shimawa; N1.1 million investments in Swiss Luxury Estate, Shimawa; N5 million worth of investment in Miami Beachfront Estate Lekki, and another N1.1 million invested in Pavilion Estate, Epe.
Other investments undertaken by Adewusi were at the Sujimoto Banana Island, Ikoyi at N1.9 million; Jerusalem Extension at N2 million and a deposit of N1 million for Crypto Investment.
Some of the debit alerts showing money was paid to ATIC ventures for real estate investment, others.
Although Adewusi could not provide key investment documents, receipts or a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to show that he invested in this business, as he said the club did not give out any such thing, many debit alerts seen show that he made payment to an account that carried the business name ATIC.
There was also a certificate of investment for the 50,000 shares he purchased when he first joined the club.
The certificate shows Adewusi obtaining 50,000 shares at the rate of N100,000 shares from ATIC.
“These ‘investments’ were sold at different times (between 2020-2022) by the president of the club, CP Remi Adeoye, without recourse to any investment committee.
He would unilaterally visit a place, meet with an estate agent and announce that the land was legitimate; that the club was going to acquire land on behalf of members, and that those interested should pay by x amount for a plot of land.
“This was the number one red flag. Later we discovered that there was no corporate governance. The man was using his own account to transact business; he was the only one transferring money and paying dividends. the few people around him seemed not to know anything aside from doing what he told them,” he added.
Club registered but no audited account submitted
Adewusi, alongside some other members who spoke to newsmen, said some of them later asked for the club to be registered, thinking that it would provide an opportunity to have both structure and corporate governance.
But since the club got registered, he said it never submitted an audited account with the Lagos State ministry of commerce, industry, and cooperatives.
“In 2021, he teamed up with Sujimoto Construction Limited and marketed an investment in a project at Banana Island. He asked members to contribute to buying the whole floor of a luxury apartment.
“As usual, there was no discussion or project evaluation. He simply asked members to deposit money and he transferred about N1 billion to the company. Till today, the place has not been developed and money has not been refunded. Yet he is saying those of us who want to leave must lose 30 per cent of our investment even when the developer did not even have approval for the property development.”
On May 23, 2023, 33 Nigerians who invested in ATIC, wrote to the Inspector General of Police (IG), Kayode Egbetokun, to seek his intervention in the case of the operation of the cooperative, alleged fraudulent diversion, and misappropriation of funds by Adeoye.
For instance, in July 2020, an individual who wanted to purchase a share in the ATIC business and ventures would pay a minimum of N150,000 to purchase 50,000 units of shares and N10,000 fee for cooperative dues.
It was learnt that one unit of shares was equal to 30 kobo as profit, meaning that every shareholder would get around N15,000 as profit every year. However, investors could pay as much as they wanted to the club in order to purchase land, estate, and other projects, hoping that in a year or two, they would sell at a profit.
In one of Adeoye’s rebuttals, it was observed that eight plots of land valued at N10 million in 2018 were said to be worth N100 million in 2024.
Despite the accrued profits and the promised duration to sell the land to the public or even the ATIC members, investigations revealed that these promises were nothing more than a smokescreen for a scheme designed to defraud innocent investors.
Through speaking to legal experts, investors and sources and carefully observing documents and alerts, The ICIR gathered that Adeoye violated Nigeria’s extant law, including the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and the Nigerian Constitution.
Records from the CAC and documents obtained by The ICIR show that Adeoye is the proprietor of ATIC business and ventures and had always prided himself as the owner. One of such disclosures was contained in an interview with Arise Television.
The club was registered in 2019, with Adeoye as one of the registered proprietors alongside Egbele David Kaykay, and Olarewaju Babatunde Akanbi.
Record from the CAC, affirming Adeoye as one of the registered owners of AITC.
In Nigeria, public office holders are prohibited from owning businesses, except farming, according to the Nigerian Constitution and the Code of Conduct Bureau. This constitutional provision aims to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure that public officers prioritise their official duties over personal gains.
Although Adeoye became the Anambra state police commissioner a few years after registering the club with the CAC, he had served as the DC (deputy commissioner) operations in the state command between 2021 and 2022.
Prior to this role, he also served as the DC in charge of Finance & Administration at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, Lagos, and as the DC Police Mobile Force Coordinator for the South-East in Operations to Restore Peace.
According to legal experts, Abdul Mahmud, a human rights lawyer, and Emmanuel C. Ike, a counsel at G.Ofodile Okafor (SAN) & co, the provisions of sections 1 and 2(b) of the 5th schedule part 1 of the Constitution 1999 clearly define who a public officer is, including police bosses.
“By virtue of section 9 of the 5th schedule part 2 of the constitution 1999, all members of the Nigeria police officers come within the meaning of “public officers,” says Mahmud.
Section 1 (a) of the 5th schedule states that: “A public officer shall not place himself in a position in which his personal interest conflicts with his public duties and responsibilities; (b) a public officer shall not engage or participate in the management or running of a private business, profession, or trade. He is only allowed by the constitution to engage in farming.’’
As established by the legal practitioners, the consequences of a breach of the 5th schedule of the Constitution 1999 borders on removal from his position, seizure, and forfeiture of any property acquired in the course of the business and criminal prosecution in a court of law for running a ‘ponzi scheme.’
Just like Adewusi explained how he lost about N13.4 million to what he described as a ponzi scheme founded by Adeoye, *Azizat (not real name) said she also had her money taken away without any return on her capital.
Azizat noted that she got to know about ATIC and Adeoye in 2020 and invested in the business due to his ‘publicised integrity on social media,’ not knowing that she would have no return on her investment three years after.
Aside from purchasing shares worth N150,000, she estimated her investment to be N3.15 million in land purchases.
According to her, in 2020, she paid N750,000 for a half plot of land to be purchased in Abuja, with the plan of getting her capital back later but the club denied her the opportunity.
She quoted Adeoye as stating that the current value of the land was N4 million per plot, meaning that should the land be sold, she would be expecting N2 million.
She said she also deposited the sum of N400,000 for land at Jerusalem Extension, Ogun state, in 2021. Various debit alerts showing payment made by Azizat to ATIC for different real estate investments were also sighted.
Azizat said she further invested in one plot of land on Miami Beachfront, Lagos at N1 million in 2021, with the current value being N5 million and another N1 million investment in Sujimoto Banana Island, Lagos in 2021, with a promise of 300 per cent.