By Fawaz Adebisi
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has uncovered a scam involving 189 non-existent businesses that were used to obtain land allocations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The commission’s Registrar General, Hussaini Magaji, revealed this at a press briefing on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said the scam came to light after the FCT Administration asked the commission to verify the status of a fake company that applied for land allocation.
He said that this prompted him to conduct further investigations, which led to the discovery of other fake companies.
He said that two suspects, including a lawyer, have been arrested and a syndicate involving staff of Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), lawyers, and the commission has been exposed.
He said, “I want to inform the public that one of the major achievements we have made since I assumed office is that we have busted a syndicate or a network of individuals who are creating problems for the commission.
“This syndicate creates fake companies in collaboration with some lawyers who claim to be accredited agents of the commission and staff of AGIS to get land allocations in the FCT.
“We only found out about this crime after a complaint from the FCT Administration asking us to verify some applications made by some entities, which turned out to be non-existent on our system.
“Based on the information we have, I gave a directive on the issue and we have so far identified 189 fake companies used to get land allocations in the FCT. We have also facilitated the arrest of two suspects.”
He explained that the syndicate manipulated the land process to make their applications for land allocation priority over existing applications, thereby facilitating land fraud in the capital city.
He said, “Their modus operandi is that they create fake entities in connivance with some lawyers who claim to be accredited agents of the commission and staff of AGIS and apply for land in the FCT, maneuvering their ways to a priority application over existing applications in order to take over lands. They have been quite successful before we discovered it.
“We arrested one suspect yesterday and he has given us some information. From that, we have gotten a clue that something like this is happening and we are working hard to stop this menace.”
He also stated that as part of his vision for the commission, he would increase its revenue base by imposing sanctions on companies that fail to file their annual returns and other penalties.
He said that increasing its revenue base would enable the commission to fulfill its mandate as a world-class commission.
