The Kwara State Police Command has formally arraigned the proprietor of Pearl International College, Moriike Adegoke, and four others before the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin for the alleged comprehensive misappropriation of funds and properties belonging to the Non- Profit Organization, Maxim Nyansa IT Solutions Foundation. The case, which was initially heard at a Magistrate Court, has been elevated to the High Court, underscoring the gravity of the multi-faceted charges.
The defendants facing trial are Adegoke Moriike, a 55-year-old woman; Adebayo Femi Caleb, a 37-year-old man; Deborah Oluwatamilore Adegoke, a 23-year-old woman; Oyewale Oluwatosin Esther, a 33-year-old woman; and Oluwasegun Ezekiel, who remains at large.
They are facing a five-count charge that includes criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, theft, criminal misappropriation, and obtaining money under false pretence under the Advance Fee Fraud Act.
According to the information from the First Information Report of the State Intelligence Department of the Kwara State Police Command, the alleged fraud was a prolonged operation taking place between April 2022 and February 2024.
The charges reveal a more extensive financial fraud than initially reported. The defendants are collectively accused of conspiring to and subsequently converting the sum of Eight Million, Five Hundred and Eighty-Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira belonging to the NGO for their personal use.
This substantial sum is detailed as a combination of Five Million and Twenty-Three Thousand Naira, allegedly fraudulently transferred by Adegoke Moriike with her accomplices Adebayo Femi Caleb and Oluwasegun Ezekiel, and an additional Three Million, Five Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira allegedly transferred by Adegoke Moriike with her biological daughter, Deborah Oluwatamilore Adegoke.
Beyond the cash transfers, the defendants are also accused of dishonestly misappropriating ICT gadgets, furniture, and other properties of the NGO which were meant for distribution to various schools in Kwara State.
Investigations by the State Intelligence Department revealed that Adegoke Moriike deliberately converted some of these items to her own school, Pearl International College, located on Kontagora Road, off Taiwo Road in Ilorin.
In a separate and distinct scheme, Adegoke Moriike, with the help of Esther Oyewole, is accused of crafting a fictitious project for vocational training for physically challenge students, school of special needs located at Yakuba road Ilorin.
This false pretence allegedly induced the NGO in March 2023 to pay €6,747.55, which was then fraudulently converted to personal use.
The case was meticulously investigated by the State Intelligence Department of the Kwara State Police Command in Ilorin, with Inspector Abubakar Agada serving as the Investigating Police Officer.
The matter was first presented before Magistrate I. J. Bamigboye of the Magistrate Court. However, following the conclusion of the police investigation and the filing of more serious charges, the case has now been assigned to a Judge at the Kwara State High Court, Ilorin Judicial Division.