Joshua Adeyinka Kayode, a businessman and his firm, Quintessential Investment Company Limited have been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), before the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, over alleged illegal investment and forex operations.
The company and its promoter, Joshua Adeyinka Kayode, were arraigned on Friday, June 20, 2025, before Justice Dipeolu over two-count charge for operating collective investment schemes without the requisite license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
One of the charges reads: “That you, QUINTESSENTIAL INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED, sometime between January and December 2020, within the judicial division of this Honourable Court, carried on investment management business without a valid licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 2020, and punishable under Section 57(5) of the same Act.”
A plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of the company.
Following the plea, EFCC counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, called the Commission’s investigator, Nnadikwu Izuchukwu Collins, to present a summary of the case.
Collins revealed that the EFCC received over 25 petitions between 2021 and 2022, including one from a complainant identified as Wisdom Odianosen Okoduwa. The petitioners alleged that the company, led by Kayode, ran aggressive advertisements between 2020 and 2021, urging the public to invest in a purported forex trading scheme that promised a monthly return of 35%.
“Based on those assurances,” Collins testified, “the petitioners jointly invested N1.2 billion and $5,000 into the scheme. However, upon maturity of the investments, neither returns nor the capital were paid back. All attempts to reach the company were futile, prompting the petition to the Commission.”
He disclosed that investigative correspondence was sent to the SEC, CBN, CAC, and several banks. According to him, the responses revealed that QUINTESSENTIAL INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED was neither registered nor licensed to carry out forex or investment business in Nigeria.
Collins added that financial analysis of the company’s account with United Bank for Africa (UBA) showed that it received a total of N1,195,646,432.25, which was largely disbursed for personal use and to repay some earlier investors — a typical pattern in Ponzi operations.
The prosecution then tendered several documents as exhibits, including petitions, bank statements, investigative reports, and responses from regulatory bodies such as the SEC, CAC, CBN, and UBA. Justice Dipeolu admitted all documents into evidence.
The trial judge adjourned the matter to July 8, 2025, for cross-examination and continuation of trial.
