The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted two companies, FARM360 Limited and MCBHADMOS Trans-Atlantic Trade Limited, for illegally collecting ₦80 million from investors without proper regulatory approval and defaulting on repayments, following fraudulent capital market operations.
Delivering judgment on Monday, July 14, 2025, Justice D.I. Dipeolu found the two firms guilty of operating collective investment schemes without the requisite licences from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The ruling followed their arraignment on June 16, 2025, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge bordering on illegal financial operations.
The EFCC, in its case, alleged that between 2021 and 2022, the companies deceived the public into investing a total of ₦80 million under the pretext of engaging in agriculture and foreign exchange (forex) trading with guaranteed returns. However, the funds were never repaid, and the interests promised were never delivered.
One of the counts reads:
“That you, FARM360 LIMITED and MCBHADMOS TRANS-ATLANTIC TRADE LIMITED, sometime between 2021 and 2022 in Nigeria, within the Judicial Division of this Honourable Court, being companies incorporated in Nigeria, failed to obtain a valid licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria to carry on your business of investment management and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 and punishable under Section 57(5) of the same Act.”
A not-guilty plea was entered on behalf of the companies at the time of arraignment.
During trial, the prosecution called EFCC operative Nnadikwu Izuchukwu Collins, who testified that the Commission received a petition in October 2022 from aggrieved investors. He said the petitioners had invested a total of ₦93 million based on false assurances of monthly returns.
“The responses from the SEC and CBN confirmed that both FARM360 and MCBHADMOS were never licensed to carry out investment or forex-related business in Nigeria,” Collins testified.
He further disclosed that Fidelity Bank records showed that the ₦80 million collected from investors was misappropriated for personal use. The directors of both companies remain at large, and efforts to apprehend them are ongoing.
The court admitted documentary evidence tendered by the EFCC, including bank statements, petitions, and regulatory responses, and marked them as exhibits.
Justice Dipeolu convicted the companies on all five counts and imposed a fine of ₦5 million per count, amounting to ₦25 million for each company.
In a related matter, Justice Dipeolu also convicted Quintessential Investment Company Limited on a separate charge of illegal capital market operations. The company had been arraigned by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 on a two-count charge of operating collective investment schemes without valid CBN licensing.
According to the EFCC, the company ran widespread advertisements between 2020 and 2021 promising 35% monthly returns on forex investments. Based on these assurances, investors committed over ₦1.2 billion and $5,000 USD.
The agency said the defendant failed to honour the investments upon maturity and cut off all communications with the investors.
Justice Dipeolu found the company guilty and imposed a fine of ₦5 million per count, totaling ₦10 million.