Tobias Sylvester
Nollywood actress, Mimi Orjiekwe has denied arrested and detained by the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos state.
Mimi Orjiekwe was reportedly arrested on July 17, over her alleged failure to fulfill a contract worth N700 million awarded to her by businessman Mr. Micheal Diongoli.
According to reports, Mr. Micheal Diongoli had paid Mimi Orjiekwe the sum of N700m to secure a procurement contract for specific household interior-design furniture items.
However, the actress reportedly failed to deliver on the contract and had been evading authorities for almost two months after receiving the money from the businessman.
Reacting to the reports on July 27, Mimi Orjiekwe’ legal team clarified that the alleged arrest and the N700m fraud claim were entirely false.
According to a tweet by Mimi’s lawyer, Barr Chino Obiagwu SAN, the actress had merely visited the Special Fraud Unit of the Ikoyi police station in response to an invitation by the police.
He noted that the invitation was based on allegations made by Mr. Michael Diongoli, who had purchased furniture from her interior decoration company, FBM Homes, in 2021.
Obiagwu explained that Mr. Diongoli had accused Mimi of failing to deliver the furniture he paid for and claimed that he was defrauded. However, it was clarified that the actual contract value was N472 million, not the falsely stated N700 million.
The statement reads, “Despite S 8(2) of Admin criminal justice act 2015, @policeng continues to arrest & Detain suspects on matters boarding on civil transactions.
“Lately, my client, actress and interior designer @MimiOrjiekweng was invited by SFU on a contract dispute. @policeng impunity must end now.
“Mr. Diongoli claimed that Mimi refused to supply the furniture he paid for and that he was defrauded. He also falsely claimed that the contract was for 700 million naira when actually it was for 472 million naira.
‘’At the police station, Mimi was said to have explained that the civil transaction between her and Mr. Diongoli was purely contractual and outside the criminal jurisdiction of the police.
‘’Meanwhile, FBM Homes couldn’t complete the installation of the furniture at Diongoli’s because her workers were asked to leave the site, following the confiscation of the building by EFCC and Interpol.
‘’All the furniture procured for Diongoli’s house are stored in a secured warehouse, which Mr Diongoli, on his release from custody, refused to pay the outstanding balance of 89 million including storage and clearance charges.
‘’Mr. Michael Diongoli’s tactics of using the police to harass and intimidate Ms. Orjiekwe to collect the remaining furniture without paying the outstanding balance has been challenged in a suit filed by her lawyer at the Federal High Court Lagos for the enforcement of her fundamental rights.
“Also, the unlawful posts made on blogs about the so-called arrests as a result of the false allegations by Mr. Diongoli were part of the court claims, in which a compensation of N200m has been claimed on her behalf.
‘’Mimi has since returned to her normal life and business, as the law is clear under the Police Act 2020 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 that no criminal charge can arise from a matter that borders on civil transactions.
“Despite S 8(2) of Admin criminal justice act 2015, @policeng continues to arrest & Detain suspects on matters boarding on civil transactions. Lately, my client, actress and interior designer @MimiOrjiekweng was invited by SFU on a contract dispute. @policeng impunity must end now,” Obiagwu wrote
KanyiDaily recalls that Mimi Orjiekwe had shared the lesson she learnt from being a single mum after her marriage to her ex-husband Charles Billion crashed in 2017.
