Alpha Beta LLP, has debunked the report making round that the former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, diverted money through the company.
The former Managing Director of the tax consultancy firm, Dapo Apara, had accused the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress of making mysterious payments of over N20bn to several private accounts.
Alpha Beta in a statement released through its Managing Director, Akin Doherty, accused Apara of diverting about $5m while in office.
The firm further stated that he inflated a contract which was worth about $300,000 and then diverted a separate N6bn to personal use.
Alpha Beta added that it has reported the former MD to the appropriate authorities but he had refused to show up and rather remained in Dubai.
In the statement titled, ‘Alpha Beta: Facts of the Matter’, the firm said Apara was an aggrieved ex-employee who was bent on tarnishing the image of the company after being sacked for financial impropriety.
It read in part, “The fact is that Dapo Apara began making his untrue allegations in the aftermath of his removal as Managing Director of Alpha Beta for fraud and unethical practices. While he was MD, Apara used his position to siphon huge sums of money from the company including but not limited to fraudulently converting $5m; money allegedly used to pay for cloud based services that were eventually discovered to be worth less than $300,000.”
“Mr. Apara, who was a signatory to all the bank accounts of Alpha Beta from inception until his removal, received all his payments and entitlements until June 2018 when he was removed after his fraudulent misconduct was discovered.”
“In July 2018 further evidence of his fraudulent and unethical practices was uncovered, including the revelation that he converted approximately N6bn belonging to Alpha Beta to his personal use.”
“This fraud was reported to the authorities and Mr. Apara was subsequently invited to return to Nigeria from his hiding place in Dubai to render account. To date, he has refused to do so. Instead, Mr. Apara chose to embark on an aggressive smear campaign seemingly in an effort to blackmail us into ending the investigations into his misconduct.”
The firm noted that the allegations levelled against the former Governor of Lagos State are specious and diversionary.
“The uncorroborated allegations against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by Dapo Apara, in particular, show that he is bent only on creating sensational headlines to deflect attention from his own criminal activities,” it said.
The firm revealed that its former Manager has filed many suits in Lagos and Abuja on the same matter, engaged in arbitration, the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and other agencies
It said in all that time, he has steadfastly refused to honour all invitations by the authorities to return to Nigeria and account for the huge funds he misappropriated.
The firm which revealed that it has not been served with court summons, added that it is looking forward to releasing Apara’s misconduct, deceit and fraud and to have the matter resolved by the court once and for all.
