Justice D.I.Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi area of Lagos State, has convicted and fined a company, AP McNisi Initiatives Limited, a sum of 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), Ikoyi, Lagos, on a one-count charge bordering on illegal foreign exchange transactions.

In a statement shared on the anti-graft agency’s official X handle, it was revealed that Justice Dipeolu handed down the sentence to the group on Friday.

The charge reads, “ That you, AP Mcnisi Initiatives Limited, on or about June 7, 2024, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction with one Adeoye Phillips Tomilola other than through the official foreign exchange market and without a valid licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry on the business of Bureau De Change, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment (Etc.) Act and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.”

According to the statement, the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges during their arraignment.

In view of the plea, the prosecution counsel, A.A. Usman, reviewed the facts of the case through an EFCC operative, Bello Buhari Kobi.

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Kobi told the court that the Commission received a petition alleging that the defendant received the sum of N10,000,000 in its account domiciled with Guaranty Trust Bank for conversion to $9,000, but failed to deliver the dollar equivalent to the complainant.

He stated that investigations 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 approval from the apex bank to operate as a BDC.

The operative added that the defendant had refunded the complainant. The prosecution, thereafter, tendered the petitioner’s letter, correspondence with the bank, the bank’s response, and the extra-judicial statement of the alter ego of the defendant, which were admitted in evidence by the court.

Consequently, Justice Dipeolu convicted the defendant and ordered it to pay a fine of N500,000, failing which its assets worth the sum of N500,000 shall be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.