A Federal High Court in Lagos is set to hear a committal application filed by PRO INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT against Mr. Daudu Gotring Wuritka, Managing Director of Opay Digital Services Limited, over alleged contempt of court orders in connection with a N95 million fraud case.
The application, brought by the company through its legal counsel, Prince Bayo Omotubora of the law firm Bayo Omotubora & Co., seeks an order to commit Mr. Wuritka to prison for alleged willful disobedience to express court orders issued on November 21, 2024. The court has also been asked to compel Mr. Wuritka to appear and show cause why he should not be jailed for contempt.
According to a sworn affidavit by litigation manager Omotayo Adebayo, PRO INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT had opened a corporate account with a commercial bank, during which it submitted the email address charlie.falahah@gmail.com. However, the bank erroneously registered the email as charlie.falahan@gmail.com, replacing the final “h” with “n”.
Despite repeated efforts by the company to have the error corrected, the bank allegedly failed to act. The company continued using the incorrect email address, which it claims was subsequently used by unknown individuals to hack its account.
On September 5, 2024, the company discovered that its account had been compromised and a staggering sum of N95 million had been fraudulently withdrawn. The stolen funds were initially broken into four and moved into different accounts before being transferred further across several other bank accounts, including those domiciled with Opay Digital Services.
Upon learning of the breach, the company’s account officer swiftly issued a “Block and Recall of Fraudulent Transactions IFO PRO International Concept” notification to the fraud desks of 28 financial institutions, including Opay. These institutions responded by freezing the affected accounts for a period of 72 hours, pending a court order to extend the freeze.
On September 9, 2024, PRO INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT obtained a court order from a District Court sitting in Ngararaba Gurku, Nasarawa State, enabling the banks to maintain the freeze beyond 72 hours. The order was reportedly served on all relevant institutions, including Opay.
Subsequently, on November 21, 2024, the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered that the salvaged funds in the implicated accounts be reversed to PRO INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT and placed liens on the accounts for further investigation. The court’s orders and all related documents were duly served on the parties involved, including Opay.
However, Mr. Wuritka, as the directing mind of Opay, allegedly failed to comply with the court’s order to return the company’s funds. After multiple attempts at resolution, the company filed FORM 48 (Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to Court Order) and served it on Mr. Wuritka and Opay, but there was still no compliance.
Now, PRO INTERNATIONAL CONCEPT is seeking an immediate committal order against Mr. Wuritka, asking the court to commit him to prison for his alleged willful disregard of lawful court orders.
The matter is expected to come up for hearing as the applicant insists that the interest of justice demands Mr. Wuritka be held accountable.