A Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has ordered the remand of Kayode Odukoya, Managing Director, First Nation Airlines over an alleged theft of ₦1.7 billion
The Presiding Judge, Mojisola Dada ordered that the accused be remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
Charges brought against Odukoya by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC include the offence of forgery, use of a false document and perjury on March 21, 2013.The forged document was in respect of a property located at No. 29, Oduduwa St., Ikeja GRA, Lagos.
The EFCC alleged that the accused forged the Memorandum of Loss of Lagos State Certificate of Occupancy registered as No. 33 at page 33 volume 1011 at the Lagos State Land Registry, Alausa, Lagos, in order that the document is acted upon as genuine.
The Anti-graft commission also revealed that on Oct. 7, 2016, Odukoya stole and dishonestly converted to his own use N1.7 billion belonging to Skye Bank.
Odukoya, however, pleaded not guilty to a four-count charge of forgery, use of a false document, perjury, and stealing, filed against him by EFCC.
The judge, however, adjourned the case till March 26, for the hearing of the bail application.
The airline was founded and chaired by the accused who was also the Former CEO of Bellview Airline. The airline received its first three leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft in early April 2011.
The economic fortune of the airline took a plunge and this forced the airline to shut down operations in October 2012.
Its three Airbus A320s were repossessed by the lessor, Aviation Capital Group. The airline fleet currently has one aircraft.
Indigenous airline companies in the country had in recent times struggled to survive. Several cases of fraudulent activities by the management and huge bad debt which forced AMCON to take over the bad loans and sack the management of the airlines.
