Police arrest musician for defrauding pensioner of N40m

A 35-year-old gospel musician, Olalekan Opaleye,
has been arrested by policemen attached to the
X-Squad of the Lagos State Police Command for
allegedly obtaining the sum of N40m from a
pensioner, Mr. Michael Shote, under false
pretences.
Shote, who retired from a telecommunication
company in London, and the suspect were said to
have known each other two years ago, when the
former reportedly told him to quit driving and
promised to sponsor his musical career.
It was gathered that the 75-year-old pensioner
financed a record produced by Opaleye, who lived
in an Ikorodu building owned by the pensioner.
Our correspondent was told that in July 2013,
Opaleye approached Shote, saying former Senate
President David Mark, allegedly wanted to give a
contract to his friend to supply 20,000 laptops
and freezers, among others, to the National
Assembly.
He was said to have persuaded the businessman
to invest in the deal and reportedly collected the
sum piecemeal between July 2013 and April 2015
on the pretext that he wanted to use it to
facilitate the contract.