Alleged N162m Fraud: Court Dismisses Falana’s Suit against Zinox Chairman, Others

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has dismissed a case of fraud filed against the Chairman of Zinox Technologies, Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, his wife, Chioma Ekeh and 11 others.

Justice Akpan Ebong dismissed the suit while delivering ruling in a Notice of Preliminary Objection filed by the 12 and 13 respondents in the charge brought against them by Mr Femi Falana, SAN, following a fiat obtained from the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

Although, the ruling was delivered on March 21, however a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the ruling dated March 25, and cited by Thisday, revealed that the charge was dismissed for being an abuse of court processes.

“It is my conclusion based on the foregoing that this charge (No. FCT/HC/CR/985/2024, Federal Republic of Nigeria v Leo Stan Ekeh and 12 ORS) constitutes a gross abuse of court process and is liable to dismissal. I accordingly hereby dismiss it”, Ebong held.

Before arriving at his judgment which has put a final nail on the coffin of a case that other courts had dismissed in the past as dead on arrival, Justice Ebong had considered the outcome of previous cases and petitions filed by Mr. Joseph, none of which was in his favour.

Justice Ebong said: “One intriguing aspect of this matter is that none of the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation of the nominal complainant’s (Mr. Joseph) numerous petitions has found merit in any of his allegations against the defendants. When called upon before Senchi J. (Justice Danlami Z. Senchi) to prove his said allegations to the court, he failed to turn up in court. One then wonders on what premise he wants to maintain this campaign of persecution against the defendants.”

Previous judgments on the matter had established that rather than being the culprit, Ekeh and the 12 others were actually the victims of a failed money diversion scheme plotted by Mr. Joseph and Citadel.

In the suit marked:FCT/HC/CR/985/24, and filed in November 2024, Falana on behalf of his client, Benjamin Joseph, the CEO of Citadel Oracle Concept Limited, an Ibadan-based computer firm, filed charges against Ekeh, 9 other individuals and 3 companies before the Federal High Court in Abuja for allegedly diverting N162,247,513.80 being payment for laptop supply contract at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Headquarters which Technology Distribution ltd (now TD Africa), the biggest tech equipment distributor in Sub Saharan Africa supplied on behalf of Citadel in 2012.

When contacted, one of the defendants, Mr. Chris Eze Ozims, a lawyer, said: “This ruling truly reflects our consistent position on the allegations, and it is good that we have been vindicated, once more, by a competent high court.

He asserted that the judgment of Justice Ebong was consistent with the position of the defendants and in tandem with the ruling of other judges who had earlier adjudicated on the same matter in the past.

Chief counsel to the defendants, Mr. Matthew Burkaa SAN, described the judgment as victory for integrity and the rule of law.

Court papers showed that Falana’s suit was based on the same claims which various courts had in the past dismissed as falsehood and baseless. The case arose from a contract between Citadel and Technology Distributions Limited over the supply of computers to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), a project fully funded by Technology Distributions and has no bearing whatsoever with Zinox and its promoter, Mr Leo Stan Ekeh.

It will be recalled that Mr. Joseph had lost the case and its adjunct suits at different courts in the past. In his petition to the police in 2013, it was discovered by police authorities that Mr. Joseph provided false information to the police, prompting the Inspector General of Police to charge him for false information in charge no.CR/216/16.

In another case filed by the EFCC at his instance against his partner, Princess Kama, in charge no. FCT/HC/CR/244/2018, Honorable Justice Danlami Z. Senchi of the FCT High Court (as he then was), dismissed as false all the allegations made by Benjamin Joseph, and imposed the sum of N20 million as damages against him for false petitioning in relation to these same allegations.

Determined to push through his case, Mr Joseph filed the same charges before Honorable Justice A. S. Adepoju of the FCT High Court, and the charges were, once again, struck out by the Honorable Court on March 19, 2024, with Honorable Justice Adepoju holding that: “This matter was brought in dead, extinct and should be confined into the dustbin of history…I hold that the instant suit is an abuse of the process of court and it is hereby struck out accordingly.”

The other defendants are Mr. Chris Eze Ozims, Oyebode Folashade, Charles Adigwe, Obilo Onuoha, Agartha Ukoha, Anya O. Anya, Femi Dosumu, Nnenna Kalu, Admas Digital Technologies Limited, Technology Distributions Limited and Zinox Technologies Limited