How AbdulHakeem Moradeyo used insha-Allah Limited to Defraud Investors

Insha Allahu Asset Management and Investment Ltd., a company owned by Abdulhakeem Arafat Moradeyo, started in 2018 as an exporter of wood charcoal, cashew nut and coconut shell charcoal. In the same year, the company corporately headquartered at ABM Plaza, Opposite Utako Market, Abuja, advertised investment opportunities to prospective investors, with a promise of a bi-monthly 20 percent return on investment (ROIs). The investment offer attracted many investors, mostly Abuja residents, and with time, Insha Allah Ltd. was enjoying referrals from investors who had come to trust its scheme. In September 2020, Moradeyo founded the asset management arm of the company by launching Inshaallahu Kunfayakun Transport Services. Investors were excited about the company’s expansion and many were present at the commissioning. However, trouble started in November when the company reportedly received a directive from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to stop its operations owing to inadequate certification. “I started investing in the company’s business in 2019. I stared with N500,000 and the company was paying the interests on time. There were even times I would receive payment alert three days before the scheduled period,” an investor told FIJ. The investor, who asked not to be named, further said that he introduced his sister and cousins to the investment and they both invested the sum of N9,000,000. “To my greatest surprise, the company stopped paying me, my sister and my cousin in October 2020, with a claim that they had issues with the SEC. They appealed for calm and said they would commence payment of our capital in March this year,” he continued. “But till we speak, and till Alhaji Moradeyo ran away with our money, not a dime was paid. This is one man that never failed to observe any of the five daily prayers. The man would even excuse himself from a meeting to go and pray. I am still in shock. I trusted him. Many people trusted him.” ANOTHER SHOCKED INVESTOR Another investor, who simply wished to be known as Khadija, said she invested N1.3 million of the inheritance she got from her late mother in the company’s scheme. “We heard the company paid a few investors in March like they promised but I did not get anything. The other investors that I made friends with also told me they did not receive anything. So, to me, the March payment the company is claiming to have made could even be a lie. To say I am shocked is an understatement. I totally believed in the company’s operations because of the MD’s devoutness,” she said. The investor added that several people were affected and the amount involved in the scam was about N9 billion. Apart from the rumoured instruction from SEC that the company’s business activity be put on hold, FIJ gathered that the company recorded a loss in the transportation business it attempted and, as a result, could no longer meet up with the obligation of paying its investors. In May, Moradeyo’s whereabouts became unknown and many of his investors believed he had gone into hiding or had fled the country. On July 14, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) declared Moradeyo and Aisha Sanusi Muhammad, whom the commission stated was his wife, wanted on its website. FIJ made several calls to the phone numbers on Insha Allahu’s website, but they were not available.