A high stakes forgery and money laundering case involving a Lagos based immigration advisory firm, a missing business partner, and an alleged N460.75 million bank transfer took another twist this week, when the accused failed to appear in court, citing surgery abroad, but offering no paperwork to back it up.
The case, Inspector General of Police v. Austin Albert & 2 Others, is before Hon. Justice I. A. Kala at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Judicial Division, Lagos. The prosecution is being led by G. T. Nev Esq. of the Directorate of Legal Services.
At the centre of the matter is The Premiere Immigration and Advisory Limited, a Lagos company jointly owned by Dr Jane Kimemia, a Kenyan born financial services veteran, and Austin Albert, a Nigerian businessman also linked to a Dubai based real estate firm, Loft & Keys Properties LLC. The two held the company 50/50.
Police allege that on 6 March 2026, the sum of N460,750,000 was moved out of the company’s Globus Bank account, without Dr Kimemia’s knowledge or consent, and sent to an account belonging to New Power Energy and Logistics Services. The charge sheet accuses Austin Albert and the company’s Head of Finance, Jinadu Musbau Olalekan, of working together to carry out the transfer, and of forging Dr Kimemia’s signature to authorise it. A third original defendant, Ugumanim Okputu Joana Agwu, an executive assistant, had faced a separate assault related charge, but that count was dropped by the prosecution when it emerged the court lacked jurisdiction to hear it alongside the money related charges.
The charges cited include offences under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, the Miscellaneous Offences Act, and the Criminal Code Act.
It is important to stress that these are allegations only. None of the accused has been convicted, and each is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
When the matter came up this week, the courtroom had a full house, but not a full bench of defendants. The first defendant, Austin Albert, was absent. His lawyer told the court he had recently undergone surgery in Dubai. There was just one problem: no medical report was presented to support the claim.
The prosecution didn’t let that go unnoticed. G. T. Nev reminded the court that at the last hearing, the defence had only said Albert was out of the country, with no mention at all of any health issue. Now, at this hearing, a story of major surgery had suddenly appeared, still without a single document to confirm it.
Despite the gap, Justice Kala chose to give the matter room to breathe. In the interest of fairness, the court adjourned the case to a further date in October for arraignment, rather than proceeding without the defendant present.
Among those seated in the courtroom was a team from the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Nigeria (FIDA), led by Barr. Ogechi Abu, alongside colleagues Phil Nneji, Chioma Porom and Kemi Ogunnaike. Speaking afterwards, Barr. Abu said the group had come “to watch proceedings in the case between the Inspector-General of Police and Austin Albert and two others.”
She noted that the charge itself had changed shape during the hearing, after “the prosecuting counsel amended the charge, dropping the second defendant.” As for the missing defendant, she pointed out the shifting explanation offered by the defence: at the last adjourned date, “there was no mention of any medical indisposition,” yet at this hearing, the story of a major surgery surfaced “without a medical report to show the nature of it to the court.”
Still, Barr. Abu welcomed the court’s caution, noting that Justice Kala, “in the spirit of doing justice,” adjourned the matter to October for arraignment. She explained why FIDA is keeping an eye on this case at all: “the nominal complainant in this case is a female,” and protecting women’s rights sits at the heart of the organisation’s mandate.
Representing the first and third defendants, Malam Abdul-Hakeem Adio pushed back hard against the idea that this is a case involving violence against women at all, and questioned why FIDA was in the courtroom in the first place. “If you look at the entire charge sheet, the common thread is forgery,” he said, adding that the matter “has nothing to do with violence against a woman.”
On his client’s absence, Adio explained that the defence had intended to file medical documents, but had instead been focused on efforts to settle the matter amicably. “We came to court today expecting that path, only to be met with an amended charge this morning,” he said.
He went further, describing the underlying charge itself as overreach. “This charge, in my view, is trumped up,” Adio argued, framing the dispute as a falling out between business partners over how the company should be run, rather than a criminal matter. He disclosed that settlement talks were already underway between the two sides, and predicted that “by the next hearing, a resolution may well be in sight.”
With the amended charge now naming only two defendants, Austin Albert and Jinadu Musbau Olalekan, the matter has been adjourned to October 5 for arraignment, when both men will be expected to appear in person before Justice Kala. Whether medical documentation finally materialises, and whether the two sides’ talk of a settlement bears fruit before then, will be closely watched, not least by the FIDA lawyers who say they’ll be back in the courtroom.
Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos. Before Hon. Justice I. A. Kala.
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