An employee and his accomplice have been arraigned before a Federal High Court, Lagos, for allegedly selling bags of cement and other building materials worth over N250m belonging to their employer and gambling with the proceeds.

Spokesperson for the Police Special Fraud Unit, Ovie Ewhubare, in a statement on Saturday, said the suspects, Ezekiel Taiwo and Rahman Airat, are facing a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing, fraudulent conversion, embezzlement, and money laundering.

The duo’s arrest by the police was in response to a petition by Jimoh Atofolaki, who alleged that his employee at his company’s Osogbo branch, Mr Taiwo, diverted the said property.

Mr Ewhubare, in the statement said, “In a significant development to an ongoing case of conspiracy, stealing, fraudulent conversion of funds, embezzlement, and money laundering to the tune of two hundred and fifty million naira (N250,000,000), the PSFU has arraigned two suspects; Taiwo ‘M’ and Airat before the Federal High Court, Lagos.”

The command’s spokesperson added that investigations showed that Mr Taiwo conspired with Airat to convert the goods and used the proceeds for gambling.

Commissioner of Police, SFU, Okunade Nurat, admonished business owners to always carry out thorough background checks before employing individuals to take charge of their businesses.