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E-Business

Ex-MD of Alpha-Beta Alleges Fraud, Tax Evasion as Court Summons Tinubu

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Oladapo Apara, former managing director of Alpha-Beta Consulting, has filed lawsuit alleging that the company has been diverting billions of naira from the coffers of the Lagos state government since 2002.

Ex-MD of Alpha-Beta Alleges Fraud, Tax Evasion as Court Summons Tinubu

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu

This is coming as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, has been slammed with a law suit directing him to appear before the Lagos High Court within 42 days.

The writ of summons with no LD/7330GCMW/2020 deposed to at a Lagos high court on October 2, 2020 also alleged money laundering, tax evasion, forgery and a number of corporate fraudulent practices on the part of the company and its owners.

However, an official of Alpha-Beta who spoke with TheCable said the company was yet to be served the writ.

In a series of tweets in 2018, Apara had also alleged that Alpha-Beta had, using technology, generated N1.5 trillion from 2002-2018 for the state government.

He said the company earned 10 percent as commission and did not pay taxes.

In the writ of summons, Apara claimed that in 2000, he gave a proposal to Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who was governor of Lagos from 1999 to 2007.

The idea was how to use better technology to track the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR).

Tinubu allegedly demanded that a 70 percent equity interest be assigned to Olumide Ogunmola and Adegboyega Oyetola, two people said to be his associates.

In the final sharing arrangement, Apara claimed Ogunmola was allotted 40 percent and Oyetola, who became governor of Osun state in 2018, was given 30 percent of the 70 percent allegedly demanded by Tinubu.

On the directive of Tinubu, Oyetola’s 30 percent, Apara further alleged, was transferred to one Tunde Badejo.

Following the agreement on all sides, Apara said he became a signatory to all the bank accounts, alongside the two shareholders whom Apara claimed were simply “holding trust for Tinubu”.

“After incorporation of Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited in 2002 and structured according to the dictates of the 2nd defendant (Bola Ahmed Tinubu), the 2nd defendant in his official capacity as the governor of Lagos state then approved that Alpha-Beta Consulting Ltd be awarded consultancy contract for the assessment and collection on behalf of the Lagos state government, all taxes and internally generated revenue (IGR) due and payable to the state at a 10% consultancy fee (subject to a benchmark which varies from time to time,” he said in court papers seen by TheCable.

APARA KICKED OUT

In 2010, three years after Tinubu had completed two terms as Lagos governor, Apara said the former governor directed that the incorporation structure of the company be changed from a limited liability company to a limited liability partnership under a newly promulgated Lagos law.

Tinubu, Apara said, had told him that the purpose of the change “was to further shield his (Tinubu) involvement in Alpha-Beta Consulting Ltd from public scrutiny”.

Subsequently, the limited liability partnership then took over the Lagos contract previously awarded to Alpha-Beta Consulting Limited.

Trouble began for Apara in 2014 when Tinubu allegedly directed that Ogunmola become the managing partner of the company and Apara as deputy managing partner.

The battle between Apara and Ogunmola went on till 2016 when Tinubu allegedly stopped Apara from reviewing the financial records of the company.

Tinubu then brought in Akin Doherty as managing director who took over and asked Apara to stay away from the company’s finances, Apare alleged.

Apara also alleged that Tinubu warned him not to think of exposing his involvement in the financial affairs of the company to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as Ibrahim Magu, the now suspended chairman of the anti-graft agency, “will always” protect him.

The accountant also accused Tinubu of threatening to use Lagos government agencies to harass and seize his assets.

‘ILLEGALLY OPERATING ALPHA-BETA BANK ACCOUNTS’

From 2018, Apara said, Tinubu, Badejo and Doherty colluded to operate Alpha-Beta bank accounts without his involvement as one of the signatories.

He said at one point, he suspected that his signature was forged to enable Tinubu and the others to operate the company’s accounts without him.

Despite the huge income made by Alpha-Beta since 2010, Apara claimed that to date, Badejo and Doherty, acting under Tinubu’s directive, “breached clause 8 of the partnership agreement and denied” him his share of the profit from the partnership as provided in the agreement.

He further averred: “Tunde Badejo, Michael Olumide Ogunmola and Akin Doherty have colluded and conspired to run the affairs of the business in a manner designed to bankrupt the 1st defendant through suspicious monetary transfers to third parties running into billions of naira contrary to the partnership agreement.

“The account review revealed large scale fraudulent transactions some of which are stated above and diversion of Alpha-Beta funds running into billions of naira by Tinubu.

“During the review of the account records of the company, huge sums of money that Alpha-Beta earned over the years was not reflected in the accounts of the company.”

Apara alleged that since 2014, the company has not kept proper financial records.

He said Badejo, when confronted, admitted that “the funds of the company have been mismanaged over the years including diversion funds for purported joint ventures purposes at the direction of and for the benefit of Tinubu”.

Apara, in the suit, among other prayers, asked the court to grant an order to trace all funds and assets due to him.

In a petition to the EFCC in 2018, Apara had accused Tinubu of using the company for money laundering and had diverted about N100 billion.

 

 


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Firm Highlights Top Risks of Quantum Computing

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Kaspersky is addressing one of the most debatable technological challenges of the coming decade: the rise of quantum computing and its potential impact on digital security.

In this context, experts have identified the main quantum threats that demand immediate action from the cybersecurity community.

As classical computers approach their physical limits, their performance growth is slowing — constraining progress in areas that depend on complex computation.

At the same time, quantum computers offer the potential to solve specific problems far faster than classical systems. For now, however, their practical use remains limited to narrow and experimental domains.

Nevertheless, experts estimate that we may see a fully fault-tolerant quantum computer within the next decade — a development that could unlock significant advances, but also unleash a new era of cybersecurity threats.

Supporting this urgency, Deloitte’s 2024 Global Future of Cyber Survey reports that 83% of organizations are already assessing or taking steps to address quantum computing risks, demonstrating growing awareness and proactive strategies in the private sector.

To better understand the scope of the evolving threat, Kaspersky has identified three of the most urgent quantum-related risks that demand action from the cybersecurity community:

The top three risks:

Quantum computers could be used to compromise the traditional encryption methods that currently protect data in countless digital systems — posing a direct threat to global cybersecurity infrastructures.

Threats include the interception and decoding of sensitive diplomatic, military, and financial communications, as well as the real-time decryption of private negotiations – something quantum systems could handle much faster than classical machines, turning secure conversations into open books.

  1. Store now, decrypt later: the key threat of the coming years

Threat actors are already harvesting encrypted data today, with the intention of decrypting it in the future once quantum capabilities advance. This “store now, decrypt later” tactic could expose sensitive information years after it was originally transmitted — including diplomatic exchanges, financial transactions, and private communications.

  1. Sabotage in blockchain and cryptocurrency

Blockchain networks are not immune to quantum threats. Bitcoin’s Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), which relies on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), is especially vulnerable.

Potential risks include forging digital signatures, which threatens Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies; attacks on ECDSA that secure crypto wallets; and tampering with blockchain transaction history, undermining trust and integrity.

  1. Quantum-resistant ransomware: a new front

Looking ahead, developers and operators of advanced ransomware may begin adopting post-quantum cryptography to protect their own malicious payloads. So-called “quantum-resistant” ransomware would be designed to resist decryption by both classical and quantum computers — potentially making recovery without paying a ransom nearly impossible.

At present, quantum computing does not offer a way to decrypt files locked by current ransomware. Data protection and recovery still rely on traditional security solutions and collaboration among law enforcement agencies, quantum researchers, and international organisations.

Building quantum-safe defenses

Quantum computers are not yet a direct threat — but by the time they are, it may be too late to respond. Transitioning to post-quantum cryptography will take years. Preparations must begin today.

The cybersecurity community, IT companies, and governments must coordinate to address the risks ahead. Policymakers should develop clear strategies to migrate to post-quantum algorithms. Businesses and researchers need to begin implementing new security standards now.

“The most critical risk lies not really in the future, but in the present: encrypted data with long-term value is already at risk from future decryption. The security decisions we make today will define the resilience of our digital infrastructure for decades.

“Governments, businesses, and infrastructure providers must begin adapting now, or risk systemic vulnerabilities that cannot be retroactively fixed,” states Sergey Lozhkin, Head of Kaspersky Global Research & Analysis Team for META and APAC.


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AI Slows Down some Experienced Software Developers, Study Finds

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Contrary to popular belief, using cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools slowed down experienced software developers when they were working in codebases familiar to them, rather than supercharging their work, a new study found.

AI research nonprofit METR conducted the in-depth study, on a group of seasoned developers earlier this year while they used Cursor, a popular AI coding assistant, to help them complete tasks in open-source projects they were familiar with.

Before the study, the open-source developers believed using AI would speed them up, estimating it would decrease task completion time by 24%. Even after completing the tasks with AI, the developers believed that they had decreased task times by 20%. But the study found that using AI did the opposite: it increased task completion time by 19%.

The study’s lead authors, Joel Becker and Nate Rush, said they were shocked by the results: prior to the study, Rush had written down that he expected “a 2x speed up, somewhat obviously.”

The findings challenge the belief that AI always makes expensive human engineers much more productive, a factor that has attracted substantial investment into companies selling AI products to aid software development.

AI is also expected to replace entry-level coding positions. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, recently told Axios that AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white collar jobs in the next one to five years.

Prior literature on productivity improvements has found significant gains: one study found using AI sped up coders by 56%, another study found developers were able to complete 26% more tasks in a given time.

But the new METR study shows that those gains don’t apply to all software development scenarios. In particular, this study showed that experienced developers intimately familiar with the quirks and requirements of large, established open source codebases experienced a slowdown.

Other studies often rely on software development benchmarks for AI, which sometimes misrepresent real-world tasks, the study’s authors said.

The slowdown stemmed from developers needing to spend time going over and correcting what the AI models suggested.

“When we watched the videos, we found that the AIs made some suggestions about their work, and the suggestions were often directionally correct, but not exactly what’s needed,” Becker said.

The authors cautioned that they do not expect the slowdown to apply in other scenarios, such as for junior engineers or engineers working in codebases they aren’t familiar with.

Still, the majority of the study’s participants, as well as the study’s authors, continue to use Cursor today.

The authors believe it is because AI makes the development experience easier, and in turn, more pleasant, akin to editing an essay instead of staring at a blank page.

“Developers have goals other than completing the task as soon as possible,” Becker said. “So they’re going with this less effortful route.”

 


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Firm Uncovers $500K Crypto Heist Through Malicious Packages

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Kaspersky GReAT (Global Research and Analysis Team) experts have discovered open-source packages that download the Quasar backdoor and a stealer designed to exfiltrate cryptocurrency. The malicious packages are intended for the Cursor AI development environment, which is based on Visual Studio Code — a tool used for AI-assisted coding.

The malicious open-source packages are extensions hosted in the Open VSX repository that claim to provide support for the Solidity programming language. However, in practice, they download and execute malicious code on users’ devices.

During an incident response, a blockchain developer from Russia reached out to Kaspersky after installing one of these fake extensions on his computer, which allowed attackers to steal approximately $500,000 worth of crypto assets.

The threat actor behind these packages managed to deceive the developer by making the malicious package rank higher than the legitimate one. The attacker achieved this by artificially inflating the malicious package’s downloads count to 54,000.

After installation, the victim gained no actual functionality from the extension. Instead, malicious ScreenConnect software was installed on the computer, granting threat actors remote access to the infected device.

Using this access, they deployed the open-source Quasar backdoor along with a stealer that collects data from browsers, email clients, and crypto wallets. With these tools, the threat actors were able to obtain the developer’s wallet seed phrases and subsequently steal cryptocurrency from the accounts.

After the malicious extension downloaded by the developer was discovered and removed from the repository, the threat actor republished it and artificially inflated its installation count to a higher number – 2 million, compared to 61,000 for the legitimate package. The extension was removed from the platform following a request from Kaspersky.

“Spotting compromised open-source packages with the naked eye is becoming increasingly difficult. Threat actors are using increasingly creative tactics to deceive potential victims, even developers who have a strong understanding of cybersecurity risks — particularly those working in the blockchain development field.

As we expect adversaries to continue targeting developers, it is recommended that even experienced IT professionals deploy dedicated security solutions to safeguard sensitive data and prevent financial losses,” commented Georgy Kucherin, Security Researcher with Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team.

The threat actor behind the attack published not only malicious Solidity extensions but also another NPM package, solsafe, which also downloads ScreenConnect. A few months earlier, three additional malicious Visual Studio Code extensions were released — solaibot, among-eth, and blankebesxstnion — all of them have already been removed from the repository.


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