The second arrest in the investigation of what has been termed organised corporate fleecing of Brila FM has opened the lid on what led to the suspension of broadcast services in Port Harcourt and Abuja, by the group Chairman, Mr Larry Izamoje.
According to sources, one Engr Sam Victor Mpong Akakan, the station’s Head, Port Harcourt branch was arrested recently, following the arrest of the group’s former chief Accountant, Ekerete Sunday, earlier.
We gathered that following their arrests, the Igbosere Lagos Magistrate court sitting at Tinubu-Lagos granted the police a warrant of remand to allow for full investigation.
The court heard that Engr Akakan, with intent to commit criminal activities against his employer, Brila Broadcasting Services Ltd, maliciously took the first three letters of Brila and the word ‘CAST’ from ‘BroadCASTing’ and registered the business name Bricast Communications only two months after Brila FM, Port Harcourt began operations with him as the Head of station.
In alleged concert with others, Engr Akakan issued several Bricast Communications invoices with Bricast account details to several Brila FM clients for the diversion of payments for adverts and sponsored programmes aired on Brila FM stations in Abuja and Port Harcourt particularly.
He is also being investigated for allegedly forging certificates of broadcasts of Brila FM, tendering the same to clients using his Bricast invoices and getting payments into his account from such activities.
He was said to have presented himself on several occasions to unsuspecting clients, including churches as Brila FM’s marketer and once convinced to do business on Brila FM, gave them Bricast invoices for payments to his own company (Bricast) repeatedly.
It was revealed that a fraud case which involved over N200m has led to the temporary suspension of the Abuja and Port Harcourt branches, where they mostly operated.
The chairman of the group, Dr Larry Izamoje was said to have authorized the suspension of operations in the group’s Abuja and Port Harcourt branches when almost zero returns became the order of the day for years, because of the activities of a now bursted fraud cartel.
The Impact of their fleecing became so excruciating, it was alleged, that the company could not meet operational needs and remained in dire straits.
It was learnt that the said Engr Akakan has made confessional statements to the company and police and is now pleading for mercy.
As the dragnet of the police investigation widens, more suspects in the fraud cartel may be picked up soon to vomit their share of the loot. Several attempts made to reach Akakan proved fruitless as his mobile line was unreachable.
