Three Indians, one Nigerian remanded over steel company fraud in Ilorin

By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin –

Three Indian nationals—Lalit Sarwat, Ravi Raghavendra, and Gagan Sarswat—together with an Ilorin-based dispatch manager, Oniyide Samuel, have been remanded by the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin over alleged fraud at a steel company.

Justice Sulaiman Akanbi ordered that the four be held in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) following their arraignment by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. They face a two-count charge of conspiracy and criminal breach of trust, contrary to Sections 97 and 314 of the Penal Code.

The EFCC alleged that while employed by KAM Steel Integrated Company Limited, the defendants conspired between November 2024 and September 2025 to commit criminal breach of trust.

Count one of the charge stated that the defendants agreed among themselves to commit criminal breach of trust, while count two alleged they misappropriated company property, specifically steel rebars.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them in court.

Following their pleas, EFCC counsel Cosmas Ugwu applied for their remand pending trial. The defendants’ lawyers—Ademuyiwa Abe, S. J. Ochai, and D. M. Ayuba—filed bail applications, arguing that the offences are bailable.

Ugwu opposed the bail applications, noting that three of the defendants are foreign nationals and could abscond, and requested an accelerated hearing of the matter.

After hearing arguments from both sides, Justice Akanbi adjourned the matter to Friday, December 19, 2025, for ruling on the bail applications and ordered that the defendants remain in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service.