Abdul Olatunji, a Nigerian nightclub owner in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a specialised commercial crimes court for defrauding several businesses of R12 million (an equivalence N296 million) through Business Email Compromise (BEC).

According to Timeslive, a South African online newspaper, Olatunji used part of the proceeds of the scam to purchase luxury vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz and a Porsche. He was arrested by South Africa’s law enforcement agents in 2019.

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Adedayo Quadri, Olatunji’s associate, was also sentenced to seven years in prison for his involvement in the fraudulent scheme.

Olatunji’s nightclub, Hydro Lounge, has been reported to be a well-known meeting place for alleged members of the Black Axe, a notorious Nigerian confraternity. The club has also featured Davido, a world famous musician and Opaogun Oluwasegun Akinola, polularly known as Opa6ix, who is wanted for fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“Both men pleaded guilty and were convicted on 24 counts of theft related to cloning the email addresses of conveyancers (law firms acting as company solicitors) DM5 and Yaron Waks,” said Phindi Mjonondwane, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa.

“The law firms handled property sales and registrations on behalf of its clients, Amogelang Holdings and Lesley Warther respectively.

“The accused used spyware and viruses to monitor emails between the law firms and their clients (property traders) that were about to do/receive transfers from the conveyancers after their properties were sold.

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“They would then send their banking details to the conveyancers, as though these emails were from the property traders, resulting in R7.8m (N192.6 million) and R4.2m (N103.7 million) being diverted to their accounts.”

Olatunji and Quadri were sentenced on July 8. The police have also charged the club owner for fraud in relation to millions of rand stolen from another victim after court proceedings.