P-Square: Jude Used 47 Accounts To Receive Royalties, Peter Testifies In Alleged $1m Fraud
Peter Okoye of the defunct P-Square, on Friday, told Justice Rahman Oshodi of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, that his elder brother, Jude Chigozie Okoye, who is also the former manager of P-Square, used 47 accounts to receive music royalties belonging to the music duo.
Jude is facing trial alongside his company, Northside Music Ltd., on a four-count charge of alleged stealing to the tune of $1m and £34,537, brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Led in evidence by the prosecution (EFCC) counsel, Mohammed Bashir, Peter, who is the prosecution’s first witness (PW1), told the court that his brother’s wife, Ifeoma, owned 80 per cent of Northside Music Ltd, while Jude retained the remaining 20 per cent shares.
He said, “ I went to the EFCC with my lawyer to submit the petition on January 22, 2024. I initially wrote Northside Music as the respondent. But upon various investigations carried out by the Commission, it was discovered that Jude’s wife, Ifeoma, is the owner of the company because she owns 80 per cent shares, while Jude retains the remaining 20 per cent.
“I submitted the petition, and I never spoke to either Paul or Jude until early April in 2024 when the EFCC asked if my twin brother was involved, and I said I did not know.
“The Commission discovered there were over 47 bank accounts used by Jude to receive royalties,” he said.
He told the court that though both Paul and Jude were later invited by the Commission, the latter was detained.
In his further evidence, Peter said, “Jude never denied that he committed the crime. However, my twin brother told me during a meeting at the EFCC office that our elder brother owns P-Square.
“Paul told me Jude owns 40 per cent, while the two of us own 30 per cent each.
“Ifeoma was never part of our engagement, and I was not aware when Northside Music was registered.
“Northside Music, according to my findings, was registered in 2015 and had been operating illegally two years prior to our breakup,” he said.
The prosecution, thereafter, sought to tender the petition dated January 22, 2024.
There was no objection to its admissibility by the lead counsel to the defendants, Clement Onwuenwunor, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Earlier in the proceedings, the witness had told the court that he and his twin brother, Paul, started their music career in 1999.
He had also told the court that between 2005 and 2006, they floated a company, Northside Entertainment Ltd, where they were directors and shareholders.
He, however, said Jude was the sole signatory to the company’s three accounts domiciled in Eco Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Zenith Bank.
“They were both Naira and Dollar accounts, and Jude was the sole manager of all the accounts. In September 2017, P-Square broke up, and we came back together in November 2021.
“Within the period, I never received any royalties paid into our company. Before we broke up in 2017, every royalty was being paid into Northside Entertainment Ltd, where the three of us were shareholders.
“We have two aggregators (streaming platforms that generate income): I-rocking.com and Free Me Digital, which I was aware of. When people play our songs on their mobile phones, it generates income, and so, we receive funds from these two aggregators prior to our split.”
Peter, who said he went solo as Mr P after the group broke up and got a different manager, further told the court that “ When we got back without him being our manager, I discovered a similar company was run by our brother known as Northside Music.
“I started seeing some discrepancies in the way royalties were sent to me and my twin brother. When I went for a tour in London, an individual approached us if we would like to sell our catalogues, but they needed to see the back end.
“After so much attempt to get the back-end from Jude, I discovered that he had tampered with the original one, which made over seven companies to have a rethink purchasing the catalogues.”
Justice Liman adjourned till May 23 for a continuation of the trial.
P-Square: Jude Used 47 Accounts To Receive Royalties, Peter Testifies In Alleged $1m Fraud is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
