First put on trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on December 24, 2024, for a $35 million contract fraud, businessman Akindele Akintoye has deployed more than a few cover-up tactics to evade justice.
Akintoye had sold the idea of building a 2,000 barrel-per-day refinery, jetty, gas plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass Free Trade Zone in Bayelsa State, to the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), but allegedly bolted immediately after collecting $35 million counterpart funding.
Between then and now, Akintoye had designed a few decors to evade trials. So far the lies seem to have succeeded in shielding him from the trial that could have served as deterrent to other duping business magnates.
Akintoye was remanded at Kuje Correctional Centre while the case was adjourned till December 31, 2024, to decide on a bail application he had filed on medical ground.
Akintoye had lied to the court claiming that his international passport was in the custody of another court while in actual fact he was in possession of same, a glaring demonstration of untrustworthiness pointing to likely illicit plans to jump bail if ever granted.
At the commencement of the prosecution before Justice Ekerete Akpan on May 20, 2025, Akintoye again could not get approval for his abroad medical checkup application as the trial was adjourned to July 10 and 15 for continuation.
As part of his numerous attempts to evade justice, a few days ago, Akindele celebrated an alleged award given to him in London, United Kingdom, where pictorial narrative were flagged without any concrete evidence to substantiate where and when exactly he was awarded as the African Business Leader of the Year. Though his firm, Platform Capital Investment (which by the way is in receivership) celebrated the award on their website but no known verifiable media platforms tagged along with the famous lie.
If Akintoye could go to the extent of celebrating an imaginary award, he has given enough grounds for the anti-graft agency not to treat his trial with kid gloves. He certainly has clear intentions to evade justice, and all the more reason his resumed prosecution must be closely guarded otherwise this questionable business magnate will take not just the NCDMB but every investor with good intentions for a ride. The long list of investors that believe they have been scammed by Akintoye Akindele over the years are relying on the EFCC to ensure that he is legally punished for this scary scam.
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