‘I never said I’m a billionaire… I never ran a Ponzi scheme’ — ex-Anambra CP denies fraud allegations

Aderemi Adeoye, who recently retired as a commissioner of police, has dismissed claims that he described himself as a billionaire.

He also denied saying he was competing with Aliko Dangote, the Forbes’ richest African.

Speaking on ‘The Morning Show’, an Arise TV programme, on Friday, he said he never amassed wealth or abused his office, adding that the civil service rules and police code of conduct do not bar anyone from investing, neither is the law against buying shares.

He also said his activities in an investment club he co-founded never conflicted with his job as a policeman.

Adeoye bowed out of service in April after 35 years of service, 10 months of which he led the police command in Anambra state.

BACKGROUND

In January 2024, a group had petitioned Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector general of police (IGP), asking him to intervene in an alleged case of fraud and misappropriation of funds by Adeoye.

The group accused him of operating a “Ponzi scheme” and misappropriating funds meant for investments in Alpha Trust Investment Club (ATIC), the cooperative co-founded by him.

He denied the allegations in his response to TheCable at the time.

‘SHOW ME THE CLIP’

In his TV appearance on Friday, Adeoye asked the hosts to provide the clip where he said he was now a billionaire as reported.

“I have never said anything of such. I weigh my words before I utter them and every word I say, I say in good faith. I never said I am now a billionaire and anyone who has proof to the contrary is challenged to produce it,” he said.

“Now, as to whether I have used my office (by running an investment club). Those who make their assertion should also prove that if they have evidence.

“Civil service rules and police code of conduct do not bar anyone from investing. There is no law against buying shares. There is no law against investing in land or property. The only thing is that you must be able to justify the means. Civil servants belong to cooperatives. I am a member of the police cooperative. There is no law against it.”

He said during his service period, he equipped himself through trainings in Nigeria and abroad and gained financial education, leading to the establishment of an investment club in 2018 by members of a forum he had lectured.

On the allegation that a search at Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and on Google failed to establish that the club was legally registered, he said he did the same search himself and found several entries that explained to the world what the investment club does and its mode of operation.

“It is an investment club that has a loan arm that is registered with the Lagos state government as a cooperative and we are registered with the CAC. I have our certificate of registration here, and I hereby display it for the world to see. Not only are we registered with the CAC, our annual filings are up to date with them,” he said.

“Like I mentioned earlier, our known arm is also registered with the state government as a cooperative. Here is our SCUML certificate issued by the EFCC. So you can begin to see when someone says we don’t exist, we are not registered, and I’ve shown evidence that we are, including registration with the EFCC.

“The inspector general of police is a disciplinarian. He does not tolerate nonsense and the IG will not condone an officer going into anything that is against the ethics of the job, and will look on. The IG never does that.

“The IG forwarded the petition to me in the spirit of fairness, and I replied, addressing every issue that was raised in the petition. He was satisfied.”

He said the club pays all the taxes related to its transactions and the accounts are available to its 1,400 members, some of whom are based in Europe.

The club has communicated with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to find out if its activities are within their purviews, he disclosed.

‘EXPELLED MEMBERS BEHIND CAMPAIGN AGAINST ME’

Adeoye blamed the fraud allegations on some “renegade” members of the club who were expelled “for criminal activities”.

He clarified that the name of the club he founded is Alpha Trust Investment Club, adding that it is an investment forum and not a limited liability company.

“Our purpose is to invest, not to do business. So we don’t have an office. We don’t have overhead costs, we have no employees, we don’t pay salaries, we don’t run generator, we have no official cars, we don’t refund the expenses of any kind,” he said.

“We never campaigned publicly for membership. Our members inform their relations and friends who might be interested and for the five years of our existence, we have paid dividends every year without fail. We pay dividends once a year.

“Our membership due is N5,000 per member per annum. You must be a Nigerian, irrespective of where you are domiciled in the world. You must have a visible means of livelihood, which we verify. Usually we demand to see workplace identity card and we go further to verify. We do background check.

“We insist that any member we are to admit must not have a criminal record or a pending criminal matter at any police formation in Nigeria. Those who have pending matters with EFCC are excluded. Majority of our members are Nigerian professionals all over the world.”