Court Dismisses N4.8bn Fraud Case Against Businessman Ibeto After N3.2bn Refund
The Lagos High Court has acquitted Chief Cletus Ibeto, Chairman of Ibeto Energy Development Company, after he returned over N3.2 billion out of the N4.8 billion he was accused of stealing from Chief Daniel Chukwudozie.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) informed the court of this development during proceedings at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
Justice Oyindamola Ogala struck out the fraud case following a request from EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), who confirmed that Ibeto had refunded ₦3.2 billion to the victim. Consequently, the court dismissed the N4.8 billion fraud charge against Ibeto based on the EFCC’s motion.
Jacobs explained that after the previous court session, the parties involved met with the EFCC to explore settlement options, which led to Ibeto returning ₦3.2 billion to the victim. However, two issues remained unresolved: allegations of forgery and the $3 million that Ibeto denies receiving from the complainant.
“The EFCC has instructed me to withdraw the case in the spirit of reconciliation, while the Commission decides how to address the outstanding issues. I therefore request the court to strike out the charge,” Jacobs told the court.
He confirmed that all parties had agreed to settle the matter out of court and requested the court’s permission to formally dismiss the case. Jacobs denied that any issues were left unresolved.
Defense counsel, Adebayo Oshodi, supported the motion to strike out the charge, affirming that an agreement had been reached to resolve the matter out of court. He also disputed the claims regarding unresolved issues.
After reviewing the submissions, Justice Ogala granted the request and dismissed the charge.
LEADERSHIP reports that the EFCC had filed charges against Ibeto in April 2023, accusing him of conspiracy, fraud, forgery, and the use of fraudulent documents. The trial had been delayed several times due to Ibeto’s failure to appear in court, leading to an arrest warrant being issued for him on November 3, 2023, by former presiding judge, Justice Ismail Ijelu.
Ibeto later challenged the court’s jurisdiction and accused Justice Ijelu of bias. In February 2024, the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, reassigned the case to Justice Ogala, who has now dismissed it following the N3.2 billion refund and the settlement reached between the parties.
