SaharaReporters gathered that four management members of staff of the company - Mr Jubril Adetunji, Mr Adetokunbo Olamide Collins, Mr Innocent Clement, and Mr Olawoyin Hakeem have disappeared into thin air, locking their offices and leaving investors in shock.
A forex trading and cryptocurrency trading company, Headway Trade Patterns Limited has defrauded unsuspecting Nigerians of billions of naira invested for financial returns, SaharaReporters has learnt.
SaharaReporters gathered that four management members of staff of the company - Mr Jubril Adetunji, Mr Adetokunbo Olamide Collins, Mr Innocent Clement, and Mr Olawoyin Hakeem have disappeared into thin air, locking their offices and leaving investors in shock.
A staff member of the company, Mr Babatunde Akinkurolere disclosed this to SaharaReporters on Monday.
Akinkurolere disclosed that Hakeem had earlier said during a staff meeting that he would travel abroad for a master's programme, and that he later realised that three others were nowhere to be found with their mobile phones switched off.
He revealed that he noticed this when he visited the head office following clients' complaints of not being paid, only to discover that the office had been shut.
He said, “My name is Babatunde Akinkurolere. I’m a Financial Advisor with the company Headway Trade Patterns Limited. They said we are a Forex Trading and Cryptocurrency Trading investment registered company.
“They said they have been existing for over 13 years with their Head Office at 79, Ladipo Street, Mushin, Lagos State. They said they own the building at the Head Office and had just bought another building at Mushin.
“The company also claims to have an office at Rozxy Plaza KM 20, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Ilaje Bus Stop, beside FCMB Bank, Ajah-Lekki, Lagos, and another office at View Point Plaza, No 3 NEPA Road, Opposite Jubilee Bridge, Ajah.
“I was employed in April this year and given an Appointment Letter dated 11th June, 2021 with an ID card.
“In fact, I have a query letter for challenging my female boss, Business Manager, and another member of staff.
“It's an investment company and we financial advisors are going to bring in clients with a minimum investment of N50,000 to N999,999 to get 15% interest rate on their investment after ten working days, N1,000,000 to N9,999,999 to get 17.5% interest rate on their investment after ten working days, and if it’s N10,000,000 and above, 20% on their investment but the capital stays with us for 3 months.
“We have been working and paying clients until 20th September 2021, when clients were not paid so, two Business Managers, another staff member and I went to the Head Office to find out what the problem was, only to get there to find out it was locked.
“And all the Management Staff, Mr Jubril Adetunji, Mr Adetokunbo Olamide Collins, Mr Innocent Clement, and Mr Olawoyin Hakeem are nowhere to be found.
“Mr Olawoyin Hakeem told us in a staff meeting some time ago that he would travel out of the country for his master's. All their phones were switched off. It is obvious that they have absconded with billions of naira of investors and staff funds.”
Akinkurolere added that the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are already on the case.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, one of the defrauded clients, said all the workers in the company, including Akinkurolere were responsible for swindling him.
While he did not disclose the total amount of money he invested in the company, he maintained that all the workers of the company should be held responsible.
“What Mr Babatunde said is true. But, he is also a fraudster. All of them in that company are fraudsters. He is going to pay me every penny I lost to this company because he is the one that markets the product to me. I kept asking him if the product was genuine and he was responding several times that it was genuine. The kind of marketing he put into this makes one fall for it.
"I have invested like four times and got returns until when I invested N1.3 million. So, I demanded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) from him, which he promised but did not (deliver). It's so unfortunate," Charles said.
Another victim of the scam residing in the Eti-Osa local government area of Lagos, corroborated the story.
She started investing in the scheme in June.
"I joined in June 2021. I invested N1.1 million only to discover all the people involved have disappeared. Mr Babatunde told us that it has been reported to the police," Mrs Talabi said.