A company, Quintessential Investment Company Limited, has been dragged before Justice Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The firm was arraigned on Friday, June 20, 2025, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
It was accused of operating a foreign exchange (FX) trading business in the country without obtaining a license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The EFCC said Quintessential Investment requested funds from members of the public with a promise of delivering a 25 per cent return on investment (ROI).
At the hearing today, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Abdulhamid Tukur, said the commission received a petition from a group of investors over the activities of the organisation.
“That you, Quintessential Investment Company Limited, sometime within January and December 2020 in Nigeria, within the judicial division of this court, being a company incorporated in Nigeria, failed to obtain a valid licence from the CBN to carry on your business of investment management and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020 and punishable under Sections 57(5) of the same Act,” one of the charges against the suspect read.
After pleading “not guilty,” Mr Tukur called on an investigator with the EFCC, Mr Nnadikwu Izuchukwu Collins, to review the facts.
Mr Collins informed the court that between 2021 and 2022, over 25 petitions were received from various investors, including one Wisdom Odianosen Okoduwa, against the defendant, Quintessential Investment, and its alter ego, Mr Joshua Adeyinka Kayode.
According to him, “The petitioners alleged that the defendant made wide-range adverts in 2020 and 2021 calling on members of the public to invest in his forex trading business, with a promise of 35 per cent monthly ROI.
“Based on the defendant’s assurances, they cumulatively invested the total sum of N1.2 billion and $500,000.
“They further alleged that, at the maturity of their investments, the return on investments and capital were never received. They also alleged that the defendant had been evading all communications, hence they wrote a letter of complaint to the commission.”
“Further analysis on the defendant’s account in United Bank of Africa (UBA) revealed that the defendant received the sum of N1.195 billion and this money was disbursed for personal use and paying back existing investors,” he added.
After admitting and marking the evidences presented by the agency as exhibits, Justice Dipeolu adjourned the case till July 8, 2025 for cross-examination and continuation of trial.