Connect with us

Gist

Popular Abuja Agric Entrepreneur Who Reportedly Duped Investors Of N4Billion Arrested

Published

on

at

Imu Ovaioza Yunusa, the CEO of Ovaioza Group of Companies, has been arrested by The FCT Police Command for swindling investors of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Yunusa, who was arrested on Monday, April 18, and taken to the police headquarters, handled by the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID)

She was accused of “criminal breach of trust and cheating.”

Yunusa is currently in police custody and will be transferred to the State Police Command on Tuesday, April 19 according to The Whistler.

Trouble started for Yunusa who ran an agricultural food storage business in Nigeria called the Ovaioza Farm Produce Storage Business, after she allegedly created a partnership plan that guaranteed investors a 70-80% return on investment while keeping them up to date on their investments on her verified Facebook page, gaining attention and confidence from potential investors.

Yunusa, shortly after the investment scheme blossomed was accused of leading a lavish lifestyle, after the company  expanded into new sectors in the last year.

In March 2022, Yunusa who was accused of mismanaging investors’ funds, after the company went bankrupt, resulting in her inability to pay investors a return on their investments.

She, via her Facebook post on Saturday, assured investors that their money would be returned.

She said that she had registered OFPSB with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) but was unaware that she also required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

However, I must admit my ignorance as to the extent of corporate compliance that is necessary for my buying and selling business, especially as the business grew, owing to funds sought from the public.

“I asked my lawyer to reach out to SEC to ensure the needful was done. I did this to ensure that my interest and the collective interest of my partners are protected by law.

“My lawyer duly reached out to SEC and reported back to me (I was not the one who went to SEC) that SEC said they don’t regulate buying and selling.

“I must also admit that maybe we should have made a written application requesting for SEC to register my business, but unfortunately we did not do so.

“This huge mistake on our part is particularly why are here battling to wriggle out of the SEC conundrum and not necessarily whether a petition was written against OFPSB or not.

“I say so because, without registration with SEC, it was only a matter of time before they come for us if we had carried on the business without registration.”

 Imu Ovaioza Yunusa

Imu Ovaioza Yunusa at the police station



Chukwuani Victoria is an entertainment and lifestyle journalist who's passionate about storytelling with years of experience in the industry. She holds a BSC in Biology and also obtained a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Ogba, Lagos. She likes to read, research, hang out with her friends and play scrabbles.