November 14, (THEWILL) – Princess Toyin Kolade, the Iyalaje Oodua is currently battling to distance herself from an alleged $32million fraud case. The businesswoman was charged alongside six others before the court by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) in a charge marked FHC/L/407c/2019, for allegedly obtaining the aforementioned sum by false pretence.
Others charged alongside the businesswoman are four Indian nationals, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg, Bhagwan Simgh Rawat and Mukul Tyagi, as well as two Britons, Marcus Wade and Andrew Fairie, said to be at large.
Also, four companies, namely Metal Africa Steel Products Limited, Wilben Trade Limited, Kannu Aditya India Limited, as well as the socialite’s business, Fisolak Global Resources Limited, were also charged before the court for the same offences.
But the businesswoman is refuting the allegations, insisting that she has been fully exonerated by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU), which wrote to her and her company and even pleaded with her after discovering she was falsely accused.
Kolade claims that she was contacted by the foreign nationals to clear some goods on their behalf, as a clearing agent, which she did and got paid for the services her company rendered. According to her, the Indian nationals, who supposedly got loans from the bank to carry out their business activities, at no point involved her in their dealings with the bank which is now an issue of concern, as the Indians, who forfeited their properties and other valuables that the bank sold to recover their debt, have since left the country.
Kolade also disclosed that the case, which was last heard in court more than five years ago, was recently revisited because her lawyer was unable to appear in court at the resumption of hearing. Her lawyer allegedly claimed that he and his client were not aware of the court’s last sitting that mandated them to appear in court, adding that he became aware of the proceedings through social media. He thereafter promised to produce his client at the next hearing.
Kolade however blames a certain unnamed individual who isn’t happy that the Ooni of Ife, bestowed on her the prestigious title of the Iyalaje Oodua, as well as her numerous achievements in the business world, for attaching her and her company to the case, which has absolutely nothing to do with her. Claiming that she had never been involved in fraud,  she said her detractors were simply exploiting this avenue to make disparaging comments and unfounded assertions about her.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
