A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced businesswoman Ajanaku Oluwatomilola to three years in prison for her role in a ₦14.5 million fraud, following a full trial prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice O. A. Okunuga handed down the verdict after finding Oluwatomilola guilty on three counts of stealing. The charges stemmed from funds she collected from multiple investors under the pretense of high-yield returns via her unregistered investment outfit, Yenniegoldie Signature, in 2021.
According to the EFCC, the defendant received a total of ₦14.5 million from a group of petitioners who were promised monthly returns over a three-month period. However, she allegedly defaulted after just two months, prompting a petition and investigation by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2.
One of the charges read in court stated:
“That you, Ajanaku Oluwatomilola, trading under the name and style of Yenniegoldie Signature, sometime in 2021 in Lagos, with intent to defraud, stole and dishonestly converted to your own the sum of ₦5,000,000, property of Truetalk Telecom Services.”
Oluwatomilola pleaded not guilty to all six charges — including obtaining under false pretences and unlawful retention — but was eventually convicted on three counts of stealing. She was acquitted on the remaining charges.
During the trial, EFCC counsel F. Ofoma presented four witnesses, including lead investigator Christopher Ameh, who testified to the defendant’s lack of regulatory licensing and deceptive investment practices.
In a plea for mercy, defence counsel O. Ajanaku urged the court to consider the convict’s status as a first-time offender and assured that restitution would be made to victims.
