[GIST] Woman defrauds business partner of N7M, goes on shopping spree

A serial fraudster who duped her friend of the sum of N7 million and went on a spending spree has been arrested by the police in Lagos.

A 35-year-old single mother, Gladys Assah-Assor, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly defrauding her friend and business partner, Nkiruka Okon, of the sum of N7 million, and using the money to have the time of her life.

 

Punch reports that Assah-Assor, an indigene of Cross River State, a resident of 33b, Silifatu Abioye Street, Ogba, Oke-Ira area of the state, had lured Okon into a business venture with the profit estimated at N 7 million but disappeared with the money, which she used to buy herself a car, went on vacations and shopping spree.

It was gathered that Assah-Assor who works as a network marketer for a popular product based in Ikeja, had defrauded Okon after making her invest N4.5 million in the business but went into thin air with the proceeds. 

Narrating her plight to newsmen, Okon said all efforts to retrieve her money from the suspect for one year proved abortive until she was arrested by the RRS Decoy Team of the State Command.

While confessing to the crime, Assah-Assor said:

“I met Nkiruka Okon in Port Harcourt in 2008 where she worked as a banker with a commercial bank. We were just friends as at then. 

But later in 2015, I marketed a product to her called Healthy Halogen Oven, a product imported into Nigeria by a networking marketing company called Avenues to Wealth. 

As a network marketer and a partner to the company, my duty is to bring potential customers and partners into the business for a win-win profit making both for the customer and myself. 

I told Okon about the Healthy Oven which was one of the products of Avenues to Wealth sold for N12,000 at company price. 

We agreed to partner in buying large quantity of the product; myself and Okon would put together the financial capital while I do the marketing and transportation of the product to the customers,” she explained

The victim, on her part, said:

“I got interested in the Healthy Oven marketing business and decided to go into partnership with Gladys, whom I have known since when I was residing in Port Harcourt. 

We agreed to buy about 410 units of the Oven from the company where one sells for N12,000 and agreed to sell at the rate of N20,000. 

I made a deposit of N4,500,000 to Gladys account on the agreement that after sales, I would be collecting back N7.5 million plus the profit but she refused to stick to the plans as agreed in our memorandum of understanding. 

After I contacted her for my money, she refused to pick my calls and absconded for over one year. Then, I realized I have been duped by the person I thought was my business partner. 

All effort I made to persuade Gladys to pay my money proved abortive as she continued to give me one excuse or the other. 

During one of our confrontations in 2016, Gladys issued me dud cheques of N3 million, N2 million and another N2 million, making N7 million in total but the bank told me the cheques were not payable." 

It was however discovered in the course of investigations that Assah-Assor also allegedly duped another lady in the same manner. 

The suspect also confessed to having duped the lady to the tune of N1.8 million in a car purchase deal she brokered, adding that the lady was linked to her by an auto dealer from whom her sister wanted to purchase a Toyota 4 wheel drive worth N3 million. She said she had convinced the lady to pay for the vehicle in installments.

She further confessed to have collected the first tranche of N1.8 million on behalf of the auto dealer but the bubble burst when the lady demanded a refund and that she was no longer interested in the deal upon realizing that Assah-Assor was up to some games.

She disclosed to investigators to have used proceeds from the second fraud to open a catering shop business, bought a car, traveled out on vacations and got a suitable apartment for her family.