Multichoice Nig. Ltd, 2 others, docked over Lottery fraud

Three accused, Ayo Ajala, Tomi Olugbemi and their company, Multichoice Nig. Ltd, were on Friday charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos, over an alleged fraudulent promo. The accused were arraigned by the Police, on a 22-count charge, bordering on conspiracy, promotion of illegal lottery, and fraud.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecutor, Mr Joseph Nwadike, told the court that the accused committed the offence between October 2013 and March 2014, at their premises at Plot 1381, Tiamiyu Savage St., Victoria Island, Lagos.

He said the accused and four others, now at large, had conspired to obtain money from a complainant, under the false pretence that he would win a trip to the U.S., for the 2014 Grammy Awards.

He said the accused had published a promo in 2013 tagged: “Multichoice 20th Anniversary Promo,” in which they promised to take the winner to Las Vegas in January 2014, to witness the Grammy Awards. Nwadike said the accused had falsely represented that the winner would get an all-expense-paid trip to the Grammy Awards, if he purchased the products of Multichoice Nig. Ltd.

He said the promo also urged interested participants to make advance payment of their DSTV Telecast monthly subscriptions, as criteria for participating in the lottery.

He said the products were tagged: “Return Ticket to 2014 Grammy Awards, DSTV Samba 2014 Return Ticket to Brazil, and BBA VIP promotion and DSTV compact promo”

According to the prosecutor, one Emmanuel Igoche eventually emerged winner of the lottery, but Multichoice reneged on its promise, inspite of repeated complaints by Igoche.

Nwadike told the court that the complainant then petitioned the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), on the issue. He said that investigations by the Commission revealed that the promo was illegal, since no permission was sought and obtained from the NLRC.

The offence is said to have contravened the provisions of Sections 1(2), 3, 8, and 13, of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act, Cap A6, Laws of the Federation, 2006.

It also contravened the provisions of Sections 34 (1) (2) and (4) of the National Lotteries Act 2005. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Mohammed Idris granted the accused bail in the sum of N5 million each, with two sureties each, in like sum. He also ordered the accused to deposit their international passports with the court’s registry. Idris adjourned the case till June 18, for trial.