Femi Akinola, an accountant of Eternal Plz company in Ikoyi, Lagos, has been arrested for allegedly stealing the sum of $50,000.
The accountant, who was sent to the bank to withdraw the money, came back few minutes later to tell his MD that he had been attacked by kidnappers who disposed him of the money.
The police were invited and Akinola was arrested. Investigations into the matter revealed that the suspect had stripped himself and thrown his phone into the river in order to perfect his story.
He was said to have taken the police operatives to the fence of a primary school in Bariga, where he had hidden the $30,000 inside a concrete block.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State headquarters in Ikeja, while parading the suspect, said, “He worked with a multinational company in the state. He was sent to withdraw $50,000. After withdrawing the money, he faked his own kidnap and claimed that the kidnappers collected the money
“The police have been able to recover $30,000. He confessed to have given out $15,000. We are making efforts to recover the remaining sum.”
However, the 30-year-old accountant denied the allegations, claiming he was swindled of the cash by a supposed kingpin, Kingsley, who lives in the United States.
The father of two children said Kingsley’s accomplice hypnotised him, adding that the man had left before it dawned on him that he had been defrauded.
He said, “I am also into music. I used to chat with one Kingsley in the UK, who wanted to help me with my music career. I chatted with him that day and I told him that I just withdrew $50,000. He told me he needed $15,000. He sent somebody to meet me around Marina to collect the money. It was after the person collected the money and my phones and left that I came to my senses.
“I was confused and didn’t know what to do. At that point, I decided to hide the remaining $35,000 at the back of a primary school in Bariga, and left for Epe to commit suicide. On getting there, I changed my mind and reported to the police that I was robbed.”
“I earn over N120,000 per month. I didn’t have intention of using the money to promote my music career. That was not the first time I would withdraw money for the company as an accounting officer. I had withdrawn more than that in the past. I have been working with the company for five years,” he added
The suspect will be charged to court.