EFCC Arraigns Sunsteel MD Olalekan Adewoye Over Alleged $680,622 Fraud in Lagos

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sunsteel Industries Limited, Olalekan Adewoye, over an alleged $680,622.65 fraud involving a German company.

Adewoye was arraigned alongside two companies, Sunlek Investments Limited and Sunsteel Industries Limited, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

The defendants are facing a two-count charge bordering on stealing and obtaining property by false pretence involving $680,622.65, allegedly belonging to Hexagon Im-und Export GmbH & Co KG, a German company.

According to the EFCC, the alleged offence occurred between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos, when the defendants allegedly converted the money, representing the value of construction materials supplied to them, for their personal use.

One of the charges alleged that Adewoye and the two companies dishonestly converted the sum of $680,622.65 belonging to the German firm, contrary to the provisions of Section 1(1), (2) and (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

When the charges were read to him, Adewoye pleaded not guilty.

Following his plea, prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, asked the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendant in a correctional facility.

However, defence counsel, Olusegun O. Jolaawo, SAN, informed the court of a pending bail application and urged the judge to admit his client to bail, arguing that Adewoye had never violated the administrative bail previously granted to him by the EFCC.

In her ruling, Justice Dada ordered that the defendant should continue to enjoy the administrative bail granted by the anti-graft agency.

The judge also directed him to deposit his international passport and documents relating to two landed properties with the court’s registry as part of the bail conditions.

The case was adjourned until June 3 and June 19, 2025, for the commencement of trial.

The allegations against Adewoye and the two companies remain before the court, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.