Globacom Limited has just been indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an alleged $6.7m fraud. The telco was dragged before the Lagos State Special Offences Court, with its Chief Marketing Officer [Ashok Israni] listed as the first defendant in the suit.
Details of the suit
In the one count charge filed before Justice A.O Williams, Ashok Israni, Globacom’s Chief Marketing Officer was accused of colluding with his employer (Globacom Limited) to defraud a third party back in 2008.
The third party is Emitac Mobile Solutions LLC, a Dubai-based, mobile solutions company which delivers, implements and provides support for BlackBerry products across the Middle East, South Asia and some parts of Europe and Africa.
Ashok Israni and Globacom Limited, sometime in 2008 in Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, with intent to defraud, induced Emitac Mobile Solutions LLC, Dubai, United Arab Emirates to confer a benefit on you by permitting Emitac Mobile Solutions LLC to provide you with Blackberry solutions services, valued at USD 6,786,674.64 on the understanding that the benefit will be paid for, which pretence you knew to be false.-EFCC
According to the EFCC’s counsel, Mr. A.B.C Ozioko, Globacom, and its employee [Ashok Israni], through their action contravened Section 1, sub-sections 2 and 3 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006
It should be noted that when the case was called in court this Monday, neither of the defendants (i.e., Globacom Limited and Ashok Israni) was present in court.
In the light of this, the EFCC apologised to the court for their inability to produce the defendants, especially Israni. The anti-graft agency, therefore, sought another date for arraignment which the Justice granted.
Globacom is yet to release an official statement regarding the arrest.
Globacom was established on the 29th of August, 2003 and is Nigeria’s second largest telecommunications operator. Globacom has operations in other West African countries namely Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire. The company made history in Nigeria, when it became the first GSM operator to implement per second billing.
