A trader seeking for a shop to run his business has been defrauded at Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos. The culprit, a man named Solomon Izuagwu has been arrested by the police.
The suspect apparently is a multiple offender. He was also alleged to have obtained a loan by false pretences from a micro-finance bank.
It is that gathered Izuagwu collected N800,000 as payment for two years’ rent for a shop he put up for rent from the trader, Emmanuel Obiora, in April 2018.
After putting the shop up for rent, Izuagwu, who is 42-years-old rented the shop to another trader and refused to refund Obiora’s money.
A staff with Fina Trust Micro-finance Bank, Blessing Udide, also reported that the Anambra State indigene borrowed the sum of N400,000 from the bank and reneged on the agreement of paying back N83,000 monthly for six months.
In his statement to the police, Izuagwu admitted to the offences, “I informed an agent, who is a pastor, that I wanted to rent the shop out. I told him that I was giving it out at the rate of N25,000 per month and would collect money for two years’ rent. He brought Obiora to me and told me that he was willing to take up the shop. Obiora transferred N650,000 to my Fidelity Bank account. Suddenly, the agent told me that Obiora said he was no longer interested in taking the place and he (agent) brought another person to rent the shop.
“The money Obiora paid is in my account, the remaining N150,000 is between pastor and another agent. I know it is an offence for me not to have refunded the money to Obiora.”
Izuagwu was arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court on five counts bordering on obtaining under false pretences and stealing.
