Police detain, interrogate Sujimoto’s GMD Ogundele over alleged $325,000 fraud

Operatives of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID) of the Nigerian police in Abuja have arrested the Group Managing Director, Sujimoto Holdings, Olasijibomi Ogundele, over an alleged fraud involving $325,000 he received from a client.

The FCID launched an investigation into how Mr Ogundele’s real estate firm, Sujimoto Construction Limited, received $325,000 from a client for a real estate deal since November 2020 and failed to deliver on the project or refund the money, PREMIUM TIMES learned.

The probe followed a petition to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of criminal investigations by a lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi of Law Corridor, a copy of which this newspaper obtained on Thursday.

The petition, signed by Mr Olajengbesi, the law firm’s managing partner, explained the real estate mogul, who is currently being probed by the police, obtained the sum of $325,000 from one Kabiru Garba Ibrahim on 5 November 2020.

The sum, according to the petition, was meant for the 50 per cent payment of the agreed sum of $650,000 for a property of one unit of 3-bedroomed flat located at an estate known as LeonardoBySujimoto Homes.

Mr Olajengbesi alleged that the actions amount to obtaining money by false pretence, fraudulent misrepresentation and criminal breach of trust because since 2020, Ibrahim neither got the property nor his money back from the company.

Senior police sources who are privy to the matter but spoke to PREMIUM TIMES on the condition of anonymity, revealed that Mr Ogundele was invited by the FCID in May 2024 after the petition was received but he never honoured the invitation.

One of the officers, who doesn’t want his name in print because he wasn’t authorised to speak to the press, added that rather than honouring police invitation, LeonardoBySujimoto Homes and its GMD Ogundele filed a fundamental rights suit against the police, asking the court to stop the probe against his person and the firm.

PREMIUM TIMES further learnt that it required the intervention of an Assistant Commissioner of Police from the FCID who traveled to Lagos to meet with Mr Ogundele for him to report at the FCID Abuja on Wednesday.

“When we started the investigation and invited the suspect through a letter, the next thing we saw was that he had sued the police, requesting that we stop our constitutional duties as police officers. I guess he was misled or misguided by his lawyers,” a senior police officer told PREMIUM TIMES.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the FCID, Funmi Eguaoje – a Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed the ongoing probe, while noting that Mr Ogundele was detained on Wednesday when he could not meet his bail conditions.

“He came on invitation yesterday (Wednesday) but they couldn’t resolve the matter as of yesterday,” Ms Eguaoje said.

She confirmed that Mr Ogundele was called in for an interview on Thursday.

She said the businessman met the bail conditions Thursday night.

“He’s going out on bail now,” the FCID spokesperson said.

Efforts to speak with Kenny Umenyi, lawyer to Mr Ogundele, regarding the matter were unsuccessful as a call to his phone line was terminated after our correspondent introduced himself.

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He had yet to reply to a text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report on Thursday night.

In July, Mr Ogundele revealed that his company’s $225 million ambitious real estate project LeonardoBySujimoto situated in Ikoyi, Lagos State will surpass the 45-year-old iconic NECOM House built in 1979, marking a new era of architectural excellence and redefining luxury living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The planned 165 meters marvel project, if built will eclipse the 106 meters dominant NECOM House which currently stands tall as West Africa’s most elevated building. It boasts numerous firsts, including over 48 electric vehicle charging stations, a virtual indoor golf bar, a standard IMAX cinema, and eight private swimming pools.

In September, the real estate mogul’s firm and construction company – Sujimoto, partnered with the Enugu State Government in a project to aid the revolution of education in the state.

Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah’s N420 billion initiative aims to build 260 state-of-the-art smart schools in all wards in the state.

Initially focused on expanding their agro-industrial projects into Enugu, Sujimoto’s involvement took a transformative turn when Governor Mbah invited the company to join the education project.

The smart schools, designed to foster experiential learning and innovation, will be built across Enugu State’s 17 local government areas, with each school costing about N1.6 billion.