Brentonwoods Managing Director docked for alleged N58m capital market fraud

The Managing Director of Brentonwoods Limited, Samuel Adebanjo and his company have been charged before Justice M.S. Hassan of the Federal High Court 12, Ikoyi Lagos on a two count charge of fraud relating to illegal sale of shares of a client.

Brentonwoods Limited and Samuel Adebanjo are alleged to have conspired within themselves to commit a felony to wit: defraud by selling and convert to their own personal use the proceeds of 537,872 Units of Nigeria Breweries Plc shares and 21,260 Units of Guinness Nigeria Plc shares all valued at N58,461,391.49 belonging to the family of Akin Olugbade; and therefore committed an offence contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act, laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under the same Section. The offence is alleged to have been committed between 2004 and 2014 in Lagos.

Adebanjo pleaded not guilty to the charge when the case came up for hearing last week and the court adjourned the matter to March 19, 2019 while the defendant is to be remanded in prison custody till the next adjourned date.

Recall that Mary Uduk, Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had severally assured investors that the Commission will not hesitate to invoke the full weight of the law on any capital market operator that is involved in fraudulent activities.

Uduk, therefore, urged investors to take advantage of the various initiatives put in place by the Commission to ensure that proceeds from sale of shares go directly into the investors’ accounts to avoid mismanagement by Operators.

According to her, “We are doing a lot to boost investors confidence and ensure their funds are not mismanaged. We have a number of initiatives that we have put in place to boost investors’ confidence.

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“We have the electronic -Dividend Mandate System (EDMS), the Direct Cash Settlement (DCS)as well as multiple subscriptions in place.

“We also protect them through the National Investors Protection Fund (NIPF), risk based supervision that enables us to supervise the operators to ensure that they do not do what they are not supposed to do. And again the Complaints Management Framework (CMF) enables investors to know where to complain to and how long it takes for such complaints to be resolved.

Uduk however urged investors to ensure they only patronise Fund Managers that are registered with the SEC as this is one of the steps in safeguarding their investments.

“We are steadfast and committed in our responsibilities as the Apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market in ensuring that only fit and proper people are allowed to operate in the market. We are committed to protecting investors in the work we do and that is why we have zero tolerance on infractions” Uduk added.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.