Aeroland Travels Nigeria Ltd has petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over alleged fraudulent Lufthansa ticket sales totalling more than 333,350 dollars, about N500 million.
The company, through its solicitors, Dennis Omorojor and Associates, alleged “economic sabotage through fraudulent sale of Lufthansa airline tickets online” using Aeroland’s identity and passcode.
Copies of the petition were addressed to the Inspector-General of Police and the Assistant Inspector-General, Force Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon, Lagos.
The firm said it wrote to formally report what it described as a coordinated fraud involving local and foreign travel agents.
It alleged the acts were carried out “with the connivance and aid of Lufthansa Airlines.”
According to the petition, Aeroland is an IATA-licensed travel agent with over 30 years of operations.
It said the company noticed unusual debits on its IATA Remittance Holding Capacity account between July and September 2025.
The solicitors wrote that the debits were “not reflected in our client’s records of ticket sales,” raising suspicion of fraudulent transactions.
They said a billing schedule from IATA showed the disputed sales were Lufthansa tickets issued worldwide.
“All the abnormally high-volume sales debited to our client’s account are Lufthansa Airline tickets … which did not tally with our client’s records,” the petition stated.
Aeroland said it contacted Lufthansa to explain the alleged unauthorised use of its agency identity and passcode.
Lufthansa reportedly said the tickets were issued through its SPARK ticketing platform.
The firm said it had not used the SPARK platform since 2023.
It explained that Lufthansa had introduced an alternative platform called NDC managed by VERTEIL, which Aeroland has used since 2023.
The petition attached a schedule of tickets allegedly issued through SPARK using Aeroland’s details.
The solicitors wrote that the tickets totalled 333,350.53 dollars, equivalent to about N500 million.
“The above sum of US$333,350.53 has been debited to and collected from our client via the IATA ticket payment system,” the petition read.
The firm alleged that more fraudulent sales might exist.
It claimed Lufthansa blocked Aeroland’s access to ticketing platforms, preventing cancellation of unused tickets and increasing losses.
The petition further alleged that two Nigerians, Balogun Olumide and Ismaila Babatunde Ibrahim, were linked to the sales.
It said they claimed the tickets were booked online from a foreign travel agent.
Aeroland said it reported the matter to the police and IATA.
Both bodies reportedly requested Lufthansa to provide Internet Protocol addresses used to access the SPARK platform.
The solicitors alleged non-cooperation from the airline.
“Lufthansa has refused to provide the IP Address and/or its systems data for examination to determine how the tickets were fraudulently sold,” the petition stated.
They added that the refusal was believed to be “to conceal their culpability in the fraud.”
The firm also accused some Lufthansa officers of intimidation.
“The officers of Lufthansa … called to threatened our client to withdraw its legitimate complaint to IATA and the police,” it stated.
It alleged the airline blocked Aeroland’s operational access, preventing management of customers’ flight schedules.
The solicitors said this action exposed the company to further financial losses.
They also claimed Lufthansa refused to cancel unused fraudulent tickets despite receiving full payments.
Aeroland urged the police to intervene urgently.
“We are by this petition, humbly requesting your kind assistance to carry out a thorough investigation … for the purpose of recovering our client’s funds and bringing the culprits and their accomplices to justice,” the firm wrote.
It pledged to provide documents and records to support investigations.
The petitioners thanked the police authorities for their anticipated urgent attention to the matter.
When contacted by newsmen, the Lufthansa Account Officer, simply called Juliana, refused to respond to the allegations.
“I don’t want to speak with the press,” she briefly commented, ending the call abruptly.