Alpha beta debunks tax evasion, money laundering accusations, others

Alpha beta, a tax consultancy firm, has debunked the allegations of fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering against it by Dapo Apara, who was allegedly deposed as Managing Director of the firm for fraud and unethical practices.

This followed Apara’s 40-page writ of summons before a Lagos High Court accusing the firm, alongside a former governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and a former commissioner in the state, Akin Doherty, of money laundering, fraud, tax evasion and sundry corrupt practices.

In a statement by its Managing Director, Akin Doherty, yesterday, the firm alleged that Apara, who used to be the MD of the firm before his removal, used his position to siphon huge sums of money from the company and fraudulently converted $5 million, allegedly used to pay for cloud-based services that were eventually discovered to be worth less than $300,000. 

Doherty said: “Mr. Apara, who was a signatory to all the bank accounts of Alpha Beta from inception until his removal, received all his payments and entitlements until June 2018 when he was removed after his fraudulent misconduct was discovered.

“In July 2018, further evidence of his fraudulent and unethical practices was uncovered, including the revelation that he converted approximately N6 billion belonging to Alpha Beta to his personal use. This fraud was reported to the authorities and Apara was subsequently invited to return to Nigeria from his hiding place in Dubai to render account. To date, he has refused to do so.

“Instead, Apara chose to embark on an aggressive smear campaign seemingly in an effort to blackmail us into ending the investigations into his misconducts.” 

The statement continues: “Specifically in response to the court summons now circulating on social media, we would like to state as follows: First, contrary to the sensational headlines designed to embarrass and blackmail, the case presented by Apara does not disclose even a single piece of evidence of fraud or criminal activity on the part of any of the alleged defendants. The case, simply put, is an extension of his campaign of calumny, launched to avoid the consequences of his

“Secondly, this court action by Apara is an attempt to distract from the huge funds he misappropriated in Alpha Beta while he was in charge of its affairs. Thirdly, since 2018, he has filed many suits in Lagos and Abuja on the same matter, engaged in Arbitration, the Police, EFCC and ICPC. However, in all that time, he has steadfastly refused to honour all invitations by the authorities to return to Nigeria and account for the huge funds he misappropriated. 

“Four, the uncorroborated allegations against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu by Dapo Apara in particular, show that he is bent only on creating sensational headlines to deflect attention from his on criminal activities. 

“Finally, although, we have not been served with the court summons, we look forward to the opportunity the case provides to publicly present the full picture of Mr. Apara’s misconduct, deceit and fraud, and to have the matter resolved by the court once and for all.”