Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday convicted and fined AP Mcnisi Initiatives Limited N500,000 for operating a Bureau De Change (BDC) business without a valid licence.
The conviction followed the arraignment of the company by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a one-count charge bordering on illegal foreign exchange transactions.
According to the charge, the company, on or about June 7, 2024, in Lagos, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction with one Adeoye Phillips Tomilola outside the official foreign exchange market and without a valid licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to conduct BDC operations. The offence contravenes Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act and is punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.
Upon arraignment, the company pleaded guilty to the charge.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel A.A. Usman reviewed the facts of the case through an EFCC operative, Bello Buhari Kobi. The operative told the court that the Commission received a petition alleging that the defendant received N10 million into its account domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank for conversion to $9,000 but failed to remit the dollar equivalent to the complainant.
Investigations, he said, revealed that the company was not licensed by the CBN to carry out BDC operations. He further disclosed that Adekunle Fadibe Mcnisi, identified as the alter ego of the company, admitted that the firm had not obtained the requisite regulatory approval to operate as a BDC. The court was also informed that the complainant had been refunded.
The prosecution tendered the petitioner’s letter, correspondence with the bank, the bank’s response, and the extra-judicial statement of the company’s alter ego, all of which were admitted in evidence.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu convicted the company and imposed a fine of N500,000. The court ordered that, in default of payment, assets of the company equivalent to the fine shall be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
