The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the Group Managing Director of BGL Plc, Albert Okumagba, over close to N30 billion fraud.
BGL is a Lagos-based financial services company, with extensive tentacles in the capital market.
The arrest, it was learnt, came after Okumagba made unsuccessful attempts to obtain court order to bar the antigraft agency from arresting him. Justice Mohammed Yunusa would not grant the ex parte application argued by Okumagba’s counsel, Kolawole Reheem.
He also refused to order the EFCC to appear in court to justify why Okumagba’s prayers should not be granted.
Rather than grant Okumagba’s prayers, Justice Yunusa asked that the processes should be served on the respondents in Lagos as prayed in reliefs 5 and 6.
Okumagba’s arrest by the operatives of the EFCC on Wednesday was in response to a petition by the by the Security and Exchange Commission in May, 2015.
According to reports, SEC had in May 2015 petitioned the anti-graft agency alleging that Okumagba diverted the sum of N28.9bn being proceeds of private placements of 4.3bn ordinary shares of 50k each at N7.00k per share in 2007.
The company, whose subsidiaries include BGL Capital, BGL Private Equity, BGL Security and BGL Asset Management, allegedly lured 50 investors from across the country into subscribing to the company’s shares, promising them options of liquidity and exit within two years.
