CSO petitions EFCC, ICPC, accuses Alpha-Beta of tax evasion

The Lagos chapter of the Committee for the Defence Of Human Rights (CDHR) has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations of tax evasion levelled against Alpha-Beta Consulting limited.

The petition was premised on the whistleblowing account of Segun Oluwasanmi, a former employee of Alpha-Beta Consulting limited.

Oluwasanmi was on the company’s payroll between September 2018 and January 7, 2025.

In the petition dated December 9, the CSO quoted Oluwasanmi to have alleged that Alpha-Beta “under-deducted tax” from staff’s salaries and “under-remitted tax” to the government within the period he was at the company.

Oluwasanmi alleged that the company divided workers’ salaries into two halves, with the lesser half “under-taxed and under-remitted”.

“Alphabeta Consulting LLP under the leadership of Otunba Akinsanya Doherty under-deducted tax from staff (including me) and under-remitted tax to the government throughout my stay between September 2018 and January 7, 2025,” the petition reads.

“That salaries were divided into 2 parts with only one part being taxed (and even under-taxed) and under-remitted, instead of paying staff commensurate salaries (and promoting the deserving staff who had not been promoted between 5-21 years) while the staff salaries can then be adequately taxed in line with regulatory requirements.

“That the salaries has always been fragmented into 2 parts with the lesser part being taxed.”

The ex-staff member claimed that an email dated April 30, 2024, from the human resource department of Alpha-Beta confirmed that the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) reprinted the “under-remittance of tax”.

Oluwasanmi alleged that the firm promised LIRS that the “under-remittance of tax” will be regularised.

“That this was however not fully done as the salaries remained fragmented into 2 parts with the second part remaining un-taxed,” the ex-staff member had alleged.

“That instead of complying fully/100%, Alphabeta Consulting LLP consolidated the salaries (hitherto paid in two (2) fragments) into one payroll coined the second which is the larger part as ‘reimbursement’ into the payroll to evade tax and deceive the government when no such word/payment was defined in the employment letter.

“That sometimes around the second quarter of 2019, in a meeting held in room 207 at Water House, Ijora office, I raised concerns regarding the need to remit the adequate tax amount, reflect all/appropriate payment in the payroll with corresponding tax amount instead of reflecting a fragment and the need to pay the staff salaries commensurate with what the competitors pay their staff.

“That my concerns/suggestion above was ignored, after which witch-hunting started against me; which eventually led to my abrupt exit on January 7, 2025.”

In the petition, CDHR asked the anti-graft agencies to probe the alleged tax evasion and prosecute the management of Alpha-Beta Consulting.

The petition was filed by Wale Ojo, Lagos state chairman of CDHR.

The petition was submitted separately to the acting zonal director, EFCC Lagos directorate 1, and the south-west commissioner of ICPC.

TheCable sighted the acknowledged copies of the petition.

Alpha-Beta limited consults for the Lagos state government on revenue collections.(The Cable)