Stephen Okeke, proprietor of Joy Juices and independent mayoral candidate, has shut down his Cemetery Road juice station and today handed his landlord a notice effective the end of January 2012, claiming that he has decided to shut down that outlet, which also served as his main production station, because of multiple robberies and burglaries at that location, and because of general security concerns.
This week, Okeke also did not open his four other juice outlets, and we met him at his Freetown Road station this morning, where he told us that he intends to resume full operations after New Year’s, when he intends to expand his business.
Speculation is rife that Okeke’s Joy Juice is sinking in a sea of financial troubles, but when we spoke with the proprietor today, he told us this is not the case, although he admits to financial challenges. Amandala has learned from persons close to Okeke that his business is struggling financially.
Last week, it had been alleged that Okeke lied about his workers having received threatening phone calls, forcing them to quit their jobs. Kimberly Arzu told the KREM WUB morning show that she never received a threat and in fact, it was Okeke who demanded that she turn in her keys.
She also alleged that Okeke owed her money. That $100, said Okeke, was to have been paid this past Saturday, and he paid her, the businessman told us. Amandala tried calling Arzu on her cell, but she did not pick up the phone.
On Monday, December 19, 2011, Okeke had told Amandala that about six of his workers had quit their jobs after they had received threats that weekend, telling them that if they continued to work with him, they and their entire families would be killed.
That same day, Amandala called Michelle Sanchez, one of the workers, who had turned in her keys, to get her account of what had transpired, but that worker angrily declined comment.
We took a shot at it again this week, after Arzu disputed Okeke’s story. Sanchez and her husband chased us away from her home this evening, but Amandala did speak with two others, including Estella Ariola, who told us that she had gone with Okeke that same Monday to lodge a police report.
When Amandala checked with police last week to ask if there was a complaint of the threats on record, Fitzroy Yearwood, Police Press Officer, told us that there was none.
Amandala checked again today. We spoke with a senior officer at the Queen Street Police Station who told us again that he found nothing on file.
Ariola insisted this evening, however, that an officer did take her report and she does not understand why there is nothing on record. She said police told her they could not investigate a threat from a restricted line. The senior police officer we spoke with today said, however, that they can investigate, although the process is time-consuming and involves the Office of the DPP and the court.
Ariola, who continues to be out of work, told us that she was so shaken up by the threats that at this point, she would not take her job back and her husband does not want her to even contemplate any offers to return to work for Okeke.
Ariola said that on Sunday, December 18, she received a threatening phone call telling her to stop working for Okeke, otherwise she would be hurt. She said Sanchez and Stacey Singh also reported to her that same day that they had received the threat from a restricted number.
Another worker we spoke with on condition of anonymity told us that she received a call that Sunday, at 1:05 p.m. and five minutes later, Michelle called to say she had also received the threatening call.
“If yuh no ride wid the program you get hurt,” she said a man with a heavy voice, apparently disguised, told her. The woman told us that her co-worker called crying five minutes later and told her that she had also received the exact same threat.
The worker, who spoke on anonymity, said that Michelle texted her and said the boss, Okeke, said to not go in to work. Ariola also said that Michelle had told her the same thing—not to go to work.
We understand from the workers that the day before the threats, they had been asked to sign an agreement that they would be taken off salary and put on a 10% commission, they told us. One worker suggested that the matter should be reported to the Labor Department.
“Two persons have all our numbers,” one worker said.
Ariola said, however, that she does not think it was Okeke who set up the threatening calls, and she believes it is really a politically motivated move. However, others have been surmising that an internal power play could have been the motive for the threats.
Okeke told us that he was planning to hand over the business to Sanchez, so he could focus on his campaign.
Amandala spoke with a businesswoman who told us that Joy Juices had been on the market for $300,000. Okeke has claimed that he has put over $225,000 into the business, including a $12,000 loan from the Development Finance Corporation.
It’s been a hard sell, and Okeke told us that he took off the “For Sale” signs, as he is now turning “lemon into lemonade” and remodeling the business before he puts it on the market again.
Meanwhile, Okeke plans to continue his bid for the mayoral seat, and he told us that he plans to call a press conference in two weeks.
(Amandala thanks Fada Henry, who took the time out to help us track down the former Joy Juice workers. We requested his assistance today, because the workers were not responding to our phone calls.)