Nigeria Police drop N1.3bln charge against MOB Integrated Limited

The Nigeria Police drop N1.3 billion charge against MOB Integrated Limited, exposing Access Bank’s alleged attempt to claim a third-party property

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Managing Director of MOB Integrated Limited, Mr Gbolahan Obanikoro, has stated that the Nigeria Police Force withdrew the N1.3 billion charge filed against him and four others after discovering that Access Bank was allegedly attempting to illegally appropriate their property over a loan they had no knowledge of.

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In a statement released to clarify the situation, Obanikoro disclosed that the police dropped the four-count charge against him and MOB Integrated Limited upon uncovering Access Bank’s alleged scheme to convert their property as collateral for a third-party loan.

“Following the withdrawal of charge No: FHC/902C/2024 between the Inspector General of Police and Adejare Adegbenro & others versus the management of MOB Integrated Services Limited, we consider it necessary to set the record straight for stakeholders and the general public, particularly in light of widespread media reports,” the statement read.

In 2013, Balmoral International Limited (Balmoral) entered into a loan agreement with Diamond Bank Plc (now Access Bank Plc) for the disbursement of N333,139,000.

As part of the loan conditions, Balmoral was required to provide collateral. However, its Managing Director, Mr Adejare Adegbenro, requested assistance from MOB Integrated Services Limited.

Based on assurances that all loan conditions would be met, MOB agreed to provide a third-party legal mortgage over its property at No. 40B Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, as security.

However, without MOB’s consent or knowledge, Diamond Bank (now Access Bank Plc) extended additional credit facilities to Balmoral, continuing to use MOB’s property as security.

By 2017, upon making inquiries about the transaction’s status, MOB was informed that the facility had escalated to N1,844,038,276.01.

Access Bank then issued a demand letter for the amount. When MOB requested Balmoral’s bank statement to verify the claim, Access Bank refused to provide the document.

Further investigations revealed that Diamond Bank and Balmoral had entered into a consent judgment under Suit No: FHC/L/CS/709/2016 at the Federal High Court, Lagos.

The agreement allegedly used MOB’s property to satisfy Balmoral’s debt, even though MOB was neither a party to the suit nor aware of its existence until the demand letter arrived.

Upon reviewing the evidence, the Nigeria Police concluded that MOB Integrated Limited was being unfairly targeted. Consequently, the four-count charge was withdrawn, exonerating Obanikoro and his company.

The case has sparked concerns about corporate fraud and banking practices in Nigeria, raising questions about the legal and ethical obligations of financial institutions when handling third-party collaterals.