Daphne Dafinone, an ally of the Governor of the Central {Bank} of Nigeria, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso is going through prosecution over an alleged N100 million fraud.
Dafinone who can also be a board member of the Nigerian Incentive-Primarily based Threat Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, is alleged to have defrauded a developer of the stated sum.
Justice Ibrahim Kala of the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Lagos has ordered Dafinone to seem earlier than the court docket on Could 5 to take her plea within the fraud case filed in opposition to her and her firm by the Police.
The costs stem from a petition by Prince Lukman Adeleke, a property developer, who claimed that between April and December 2019, Dafinone and others conspired to defraud him of N100 million.
Based on the petition, Adeleke’s firm, Lukman Communications Restricted, had been negotiating the acquisition of a property at 93 Broad Avenue, Lagos Island, from Dafinone’s firm, CEDDI Company Restricted.
Regardless of receiving N100 million for the property, Daphne Dafinone allegedly bought it to a different purchaser, Mrs. Ganiyat Ulom.
When Adeleke found the sale, he instructed his attorneys to challenge a memorandum of declare to CEDDI Company Restricted and Mrs. Ulom. Nonetheless, each events allegedly ignored the discover, prompting Adeleke to file a lawsuit within the Lagos State Excessive Courtroom.
At a earlier listening to, Dafinone’s former lawyer, Dapo Akinosun (SAN), knowledgeable the court docket that she was in London for medical remedy, assuring that she would return to Nigeria on January 28, 2025, and be out there for arraignment.
Nonetheless, on the resumed listening to, Fidel Albert appeared as her new protection counsel.
The prosecution, represented by Superintendent of Police (SP) Anthony Iyeye, requested the court docket to challenge a bench warrant for Dafinone’s arrest on account of her absence.
In response, Albert knowledgeable the court docket that he had filed an utility difficult the competence of the cost and the court docket’s jurisdiction.
Justice Kala allowed arguments on the submissions however dominated that Dafinone should seem in court docket earlier than any utility may very well be entertained.
The choose dismissed the preliminary objection and adjourned the case to Could 5, 2025, emphasizing that Dafinone have to be current for her arraignment.
Her alleged hyperlink with CBN governor, Cardoso
A current report by Premium Instances revealed that Daphne Dafinone has been illegally employed by the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso as a marketing consultant.
The newspaper reported that Dafinone’s consultancy position shouldn’t be clearly outlined; she merely takes on any accountability assigned to her by Mr Cardoso.
The publication famous that solely just lately, the governor tasked her with designing and implementing a controversial early exit programme to repay at the very least 1,000 employees members into voluntary retirements. Mr Cardoso tapped her for this position whereas bypassing the {bank}’s human sources division, which is statutorily charged with growing and administering human capital administration insurance policies, capabilities and processes.
The CBN governor was additionally accused of paying Ms Dafinone N35 million month-to-month, an enumeration stated to be larger than the mixed salaries of 10 administrators within the apex {bank}