A former footballer, John Fashanu, is reportedly enmeshed in a multi-million-naira land fraud scandal; a development that has seen him spend two days in an Abuja Prison.
Reports claim Fashanu was arrested at his home in Sun City Estate, in the Federal Capital Territory and taken into custody on suspicion of “criminal conspiracy.”
According to the UK Mirror, officers claim the former professional footballer was acting for a friend, who was looking to buy some land, and was reportedly handed £23,000 to fix the deal.
The friend said Fashanu told him about two men who were able to help purchase ‘forgotten land’, but later discovered it was not for sale.
It is gathered that Fashanu was released after surrendering his British passport and agreeing to pay back a first instalment of the money.
Fashanu’s legal representative, Hyp Egbune confirmed he had this week paid a second instalment of the money owed.
He said: “The matter is being resolved. He won’t be charged to court is my understanding.
“We are repaying the money and that should settle this matter.
“The person who made the complaint has been a mutual friend for quite a number of years and we are more interested in keeping that relationship so we are making amends. We hope to do that as soon as we can. It is quite a lot of money so we hope to do it as soon as we can. We want to have this resolved.”
Nigerian police Deputy Inspector General Hyacinth Dagala said: “John Fashanu was arrested on July 17 in connection with an allegation of criminal conspiracy and obtaining the sum of N9,550,000 [Nigerian Naira] under false pretence.
“He was granted administrative bail on July 18 but because of his inability to produce the requisite surety on that day, he remained in detention until July 19 when he was released.”
Fashanu enjoyed a successful career in England and was close to playing for Nigeria but that never happened.
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