A dramatic household feud performed out within the courtroom on Monday as Peter Okoye, one-half of the famed Nigerian music duo P-Sq., testified towards his elder brother and former supervisor, Jude Okoye, in an ongoing trial over alleged cash laundering involving over ₦1.3 billion, $1 million, and £34,537.59.
“Psquare began in 1997/98. Earlier than Jude grew to become our supervisor, we had others, together with Chioma Ugochi and the late Howie-T. However when Jude got here on board, issues modified. He was the only real signatory to all our accounts—Ecobank, Zenith, and FCMB,” Peter testified.
‘I couldn’t entry cash’ – Peter
Peter defined that this association led to frequent disputes and left him unable to entry funds.
“There have been months I couldn’t entry cash. It was so unhealthy that I needed to undergo our lawyer, Festus Keyamo, to create a sharing system.”
He recalled a very irritating incident whereas developing his home in Ikoyi.
“The home mission was financed by Northwest Leisure Ltd, however for six months, they stopped funding mine. After I requested why, I used to be instructed, ‘As you allow P-Sq., you allow the cash.’ That was after I knew one thing wasn’t proper.”
Jude’s alleged fraudulent schemes
Issues took a darker flip when Peter found an organization named Northside Music Restricted, allegedly created by Jude with out the information of the opposite group members.
He stated it mirrored their official firm, Northside Leisure Ltd, and seemed to be amassing royalties as a result of Psquare.
“By 2022, when individuals wished to accumulate our albums, I requested a press release of account,” he stated. “However Jude refused. Even the account officers at Zenith Financial institution instructed me he instructed them to not give me entry. They stated the one manner I might get the paperwork was by way of the courtroom.”
Peter testified that, to his dismay, he found that the identical aggregators managing P-Sq.’s digital content material additionally dealt with Northside Music Ltd, Jude’s separate firm. He stated his makes an attempt to get readability from his twin brother, Paul, yielded no outcomes.
“After I requested Paul, he stated: ‘You understand say I don’t know something about it,’ and instructed me to go meet Jude.”
Additional digging led Peter to the Company Affairs Fee (CAC), the place he found that Jude and his spouse have been the listed administrators of Northside Music Restricted—with Jude proudly owning 20% and his spouse holding 80%.
“Till then, I had no thought the corporate even existed,” he stated. “It was after I checked Cynthia Morgan’s album metadata—she was considered one of Jude’s artists—that I spotted the place the royalties have been being diverted.”
He additionally alleged that makes an attempt to retrieve their music catalogue from Jude revealed that the backend knowledge had been tampered with.
“After we tried to promote {the catalogue}, potential patrons stated the numbers had been lowered and the worth was not value their provide.”
Peter additionally claimed {that a} new firm, Mad Options, had paid him $22,000 after taking on the catalogues, however he was instructed that Jude and Paul had already obtained their very own funds.
Jude’s alleged tax fraud
He additional alleged that the group’s tax marketing consultant instructed him Jude had solely paid minimal taxes, primarily based on claims that P-Sq. had ceased to be lively since their 2017 cut up.
Primarily based on these findings, Peter stated he instructed his lawyer, Afolabi, to file a proper petition to the EFCC, which launched the continuing investigation.
One of many felony prices towards Jude alleges that he used Northside Music Ltd to buy a property in Parkview Property, Ikoyi, for ₦850 million—funds that the EFCC believes have been laundered.
One other cost states that he transformed $1,019,762.87 by way of a Bureau de Turn into naira and transferred the funds to varied financial institution accounts to obscure their origins.
Jude Okoye has pleaded not responsible to all counts. The trial was adjourned till June 4, when Peter Okoye is anticipated to face cross-examination.
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