How SOHCAHTOA staff, Bello Saheed Samuel, diverted firm’s N90m

Bello Saheed Samuel, a staff member of SOHCAHTOA Investments Limited, has been remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) over an alleged fraud of N90,571,000 million.

The remand was ordered by the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, who presided over the case, made the ruling after Samuel pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge brought against him by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos, on February 5, 2026.

According to the prosecutor, Barrister M. S. Usman, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Samuel and other accomplices, who are currently at large, allegedly conspired to fraudulently convert the sum of N90,571,000.00, which belonged to SOHCAHTOA Investments Limited, for their personal use.

Usman further told the court that Samuel, with the intent to defraud, converted the mentioned sum for his own benefit, fully aware that the money was part of proceeds from an unlawful act.

The charges against Samuel contravened Section 21 and Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and are punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.

Samuel pleaded not guilty to the charges. In light of his plea, Justice Lewis-Allagoa granted bail in the sum of N100 million, with two sureties in like sum. The judge ordered that Samuel remain in custody until he meets the bail conditions and adjourned the trial to March 13, 2026.

The charges read: “That you, Bello Saheed Samuel (M), and others at large, sometime between September 2022 and September 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did conspire to commit an offence, specifically the fraudulent conversion of the sum of Ninety Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-one Thousand Naira (N90,571,000.00) belonging to SOHCAHTOA Investments Limited, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”

“That you, Bello Saheed Samuel (M), sometime between September 2022 and September 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while being a staff of SOHCAHTOA Investments Limited, did directly convert to your own use and benefit the sum of Ninety Million, Five Hundred and Seventy-one Thousand Naira (N90,571,000.00) belonging to SOHCAHTOA Investments Limited, knowing or reasonably ought to have known that the said sum was part of proceeds from an unlawful act, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”