A former Wimbledon and England star, John Fashanu, was remanded in prison along with other inmates after he was linked to a land scam to the tune of N10 million.
The Nigerian star was locked up in the jail for two days over the alleged dodgy land deal according to police sources.
Fashanu was accused of acting as a fixer in the alleged land sale scandal and was arrested at his home in the Sun City Estate, Abuja on suspicion of “criminal conspiracy.”
Detectives close to the case revealed that the 54-year-old acted on behalf of his friend who sought to purchase a land earlier in the year. Fashanu was reported to have given his friend two contacts who would help with buying the “forgotten lands” which were reported at the time to belong to chiefs.
Fashanu was reported to have collected the sum of £23,000 in cash to fix the land which States were unaware of according to information provided to Fashanu’s friend.
However, the owner of the said land surfaced to claim the land which was later discovered not to have belonged to the local chiefs.
Fashanu was reportedly taken before a superintendent last week to explain himself before he was thrown into jail.
Police operatives are now in search of the other two men who participated in the illegal deal which landed Fashanu in jail.
Fashanu has however agreed to refund the money although he claimed he hadn’t done anything wrong.
Police sources revealed that Fashanu was released after turning in his British passport and agreeing to pay the money in installments.
Sources revealed that the star is looking to sell some of his properties to raise cash enough to offset the debt.
Fashanu’s legal counsel, Hyp Egbune, confirmed he had this week paid a second installment of the money owed.
Speaking on the case, the Deputy Inspector General, Hyacinth Dagala, said: “John Fashanu was arrested on July 17 in connection with an allegation of criminal conspiracy and obtaining the sum of N9,550,000 under false pretence.
“He was granted administrative bail on July 18 but because of his inability to produce the requisite surety on that day, he remained in detention until July 19 when he was released.”