On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that the Federal Government had filed a lawsuit against Elixir Asset Management Limited, Elixir Investment Partners Limited, and two of their directors before the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, over claims of fraud totaling more than N3 billion.
The Federal Government charged the accused firms with four charges of fraud, according to a statement released on Thursday by the SEC.
They were charged with soliciting investment from the investing public, including Toyota Nigeria Limited, Kaduna Industrial and Finance Company, and others, by selling the unregistered “Elixir Treasury Product” for subscription.
The charges against the defendants, as stated in the statement, were as follows: “That you, Elixir Investment Partners Ltd of No. 95 Medical Guild Close, V/I Lagos, on or between the years 2019 and 2021 within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, did commit a felony, namely, diversion of investment funds to the amount of N3,213,700,150 belonging to the investing public, including Toyota Nigeria Limited, Kaduna Industrial and Finance Company, and others. By doing so, you broke the Criminal Code Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which is illegal and punishable under section 383 (2) (f), as well as section 390 (7) of the same Act”.
The defendants were also accused of conspiring with one another to siphon the investing public’s investment funds,
SEC claimed that the defendants were not present, which led the presiding judge, Honorable Justice Yellim Bogoro, to grant the request of the Office of the Attorney General’s counsel, Moshood Adeyemi, to issue criminal summonses against the defendants and set a date for the next appearance for July 11, 2023.
According to a statement made by Justice Bogoro, “The Court will grant the Prosecution’s request and issue a criminal summons to be served on the defendant for arraignment.” The following hearing will now take place on July 11, 2023.
A summons charge was sent to the accused on March 1, 2023, asking them to show up for the hearing on March 10, 2023. Unfortunately, the accused did not show up for the initial hearing, which resulted in the hearing being postponed until May 9.
