Adetomiloye Adepoju, a US-based psychiatric technician, has told FIJ how the N19 million she invested in multiple projects owned by Keji Giwa’s Digital Landlords has remained trapped for three years, with neither her capital nor the promised returns paid.
Speaking with FIJ on Wednesday, Adepoju said she made most of the investments in 2021 and added more funds in 2023. However, she said she has not received any returns on investment (ROI) and has also been unable to recover her capital despite repeated refund requests.
“I heavily invested in different projects under Giwa’s Digital Landlords. Specifically, I invested in Giwa Garden City, Giwa Garden Water Park and Carnelian Lot, formerly known as Square Gardens,” she told FIJ.
“I invested a total of N19 million in the three projects, but more than five years later, I have not received a single naira from the investment. Neither the capital nor the promised return on investment has been paid.”
According to Adepoju, she invested N2.5 million in Giwa Garden City, N7.9 million in Giwa Garden Water Park and N8.6 million in Carnelian Lot.
“I paid most of the money in 2021, but I also invested additional funds in 2023,” she said.
REQUESTS FOR REFUND
Adepoju said she first became suspicious about the projects in 2021 and subsequently requested a refund, but her efforts yielded no positive outcome.
“I requested a refund from Giwa in October 2021 after my suspicion about the projects deepened, but I did not get any positive response,” she said.
“I was told I had to wait for a buyer before I could get my money back. Somehow, I ended up putting even more money into the projects afterward.
“I am not the only victim. Many other people who requested refunds were made to sign documents stating that they would forfeit their interest payments. After signing, they were still made to wait indefinitely.”
‘THEY TRIED TO PUSH ANOTHER PROJECT ON ME’
Adepoju further claimed that despite her unresolved refund request, representatives of the company attempted to persuade her to invest in another project.
She said that in July 2024, she spoke with a woman identified as Sandra, whom she described as a staff member of the company.
“I spoke with Sandra in July 2024, and she tried to convince me to invest in another project called VIP,” Adepoju said.
“It was a completely new project on the same land meant for Carnelian Lot, but I refused.”
Sandra also informed her that investors seeking refunds would not receive any ROI.
“She confirmed that if I asked for my money back, there would be no return on investment. Imagine that. That is how they have been treating us,” she said.
‘GIWA BLOCKED ME’
Adepoju said her attempts to communicate directly with Giwa had been frustrating, adding that he frequently ignored her messages and questions. She also added that Giwa blocked her for asking about her money.
“Communicating with Giwa has been frustrating and depressing. He mostly ignores me, and he has no respect for investors at all,” she said.
“He does not even care about what it took me to earn that money before investing it in his projects.”
She also claimed that Giwa blocked her on Instagram after she publicly questioned him about her investment during a live session.
“I asked Keji questions during a live Instagram session where he was trying to raise funds, and he blocked me simply because I asked about my money,” she said.
“How can someone hold on to my money and still block me? Even the 150% return he promised me on Carnelian Lot, I can’t get.”
Adepoju said she was only interested in recovering her capital and no longer cared about any promised returns.
“N19 million is a huge amount of money for me. I seriously need my money back right now,” she added.
“I am no longer interested in the ROI. He can keep the return on investment, but he should refund my capital.”
FIJ’S ATTEMPTS TO REACH GIWA, LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE
On Thursday, FIJ sent a WhatsApp message to Giwa asking why Adepoju had not been refunded despite repeated requests and the failure to deliver the promised returns on investment.
In response, Giwa said he was not in a position to speak on the matter and directed FIJ to Ruth, whom he identified as his legal representative.
FIJ subsequently sent a WhatsApp message to Ruth on Thursday, but she has yet to respond at time.
On Friday, FIJ also placed two calls to her, but she did not answer.
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