The Chief Executive Officer of Upper Graceland Hotels Umuahia, Mr Nwaeze Francis Jele, who petioned the Police against fake cheque paid to him by Obinna Don Norman has cried out that all he wants in the case is justice.
Mr. Francis, who briefed news men today on the matter narrated how Mr. Obinna Don Norman stayed in the hotel for 104 days at the rate of 4000 naira per day and later gave him a fake cheque.
According to him,
“On June 2nd 2017, Don Norman came to my hotel and approached me that he wants to stay in my hotel for a very long time and that he is going to be paying monthly as a salary earner”.
He regretted that after the first one month, Don Norman refused to pay the money, saying that when his manager informed him (Mr. Francis) that the money has not actually been paid, he requested his manager to allow him confront Obinna Don Norman, after the confrontation, Don Norman told him not to worry, assuring that he was equal to the task.
The petitioner further revealed that “One of the things that happened is that Don Norman invites crowd to eat, drink and lodge which increases his bill” Also that “He told me to relax that even if his bill increases to N2 million, he was equal to the task”, saying that ” Mr. Francis informed that Don Norman stayed in the hotel for June, July, August and September, and told him specifically that he was going back to his base in Lagos and made it public that he has no idea if Mr. Norman had started having issues with his former boss which he stated was was not his business.
He further disclosed that the initial bill was N730,000, out of that money, he gave Don Norman a waiver of 80,000 Which made the money to be N650,000 as reflected in the cheque. The Chief Executive Officer equally revealed that Don Norman told him that he was about signing a new contract with Dr Alex Otti, adding that he (Mr. Francis) even sent him N10,000 since he said he was having difficulty in eating then.
He however stated that “In September 2018, I went to his best man Tony Onyenweaku, his friend, he assured me that he was going to talk with Norman, his friend even told me that Don Norman comes to Umuahia but now lodge at Evergreen Hotels despite failing to pay me my bills” and “On December 2018, I got an information that Don Norman has launched a book he wrote against his former boss, even a friend of mine forwarded my account to Don Norman to pay, but that payment he didn’t make. On March, before the election, I got an information that he was arrested during a Radio Program and was remanded in prison,I went to Afara to see him, I told him that am here to ask about my money. Don Norman asked me to forget everything about the money till he is out of the prison, my greatest shock was that immediately he left the prison, rather than paying me my money, he returned to Lagos without talking to me”
Don Norman’s fraud victim continued his narration thus “I even called one Barr. Ken Anyia, the lawyer called him on conference call, Mr. Don Norman’s comment was that he didn’t owe me but that Senator Theodore Orji was the one owing me, the lawyer asked him if it was Senator Orji that lodged him in my hotel which he said No. When I found out that Don Norman was to appear in court on the 19th of June,I petitioned the Police which led to his arrest. When he came out from the court, his lawyer ran away before the Police arrested him at the Secretariat Complex Umuahia”
The Chief Executive Officer of Upper Graceland Hotels made it clear that he was not being sponsored by anyone but is insisting on justice to be done to the business he did with Obinna Don Norman.
