The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,Lagos Zonal office, on Thursday, September 19, 2019 arraigned one Olalegbin Christopher alongside\u00a0\u00a0his firms, Pentview Luxury Real Estate Management Limited and Gelbin Technology Limited, before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering to the tune of N22, 239, 869.79k (Twenty-two Million, Two Hundred and Thirty-nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty-nine Naira, Seventy- nine Kobo), an offence contrary to Section 332(1) of the CriminalLaw of Lagos State, 2015.<\/p>\n
The defendant was arrested during a collaborative operation by the EFCC and the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, FBI, for his alleged involvement in illegal internet activities.<\/p>\n
The defendant also allegedly used his companies to receive and conceal the proceeds of his criminal activities.<\/p>\n
One of the counts reads: \u201cThat you, Olalegbin Christopher,\u00a0Olatunji Olalegbin Mary (at large), Pentview Luxury Real Estate Management\u00a0Limited, Gelbin Technology Limited and others still at large, between\u00a02015 and 2019 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this\u00a0\u00a0Honourable Court, conspired to collaborate in the concealing and disguising the genuine nature and ownership of the aggregate sum of\u00a0N22, 239, 869.79k (Twenty Two Million, Two Hundred and Thirty-nine Thousand,\u00a0Eight Hundred and Sixty-nine Naira, Seventy-nine Kobo only)being money received and derived from your illegal internet activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.<\/p>\n
In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, M.K. Bashir,\u00a0asked the court for a\u00a0trial date and also prayed the court to remand the\u00a0defendant in prison custody pending the determination of the case.<\/p>\n
However, counsel to the defendant, Abimbola Akeredolu,SAN, informed the court that a bail application had been filed and served on prosecution.<\/p>\n
Akeredolu also told the court the prosecution had responded to the affidavit.\u00a0She, therefore, urged the court to grant her client bail in the most liberal terms.<\/p>\n
In his response, the prosecution counsel, Bashir, told the court that a counter-affidavit had been filed and served on the defence, where he opposed the prayer of the defendant.<\/p>\n
The prosecution counsel further described the\u00a0defendant as a flight-risk, adding that \u201cThe defendant, while making statement in the EFCC office, tried to move\u00a0money from his Zenith Bank account through his phone and also\u00a0wiped all the information on his phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prosecutor also informed the court that the defendant\u2019s\u00a0mum, who aided him in perpetrating the crime, could not found.\u00a0\u201cMy Lord, the defendant too may also abscond like his mum.<\/p>\n
\u201c He\u00a0 is 26 years old and has never worked anywhere; yet,he acquired a 2019 model Porche car worth N120million and \u00a0a 2015 model Merzedes Benz \u00a0car worth N75million,\u201d he further submitted.<\/p>\n
The prosecution counsel, therefore, urged the court not to grant the defendant bail.<\/p>\n
Justice Taiwo, after listening to both parties, said \u201cthe offence is a
\nbailable one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Judge, therefore, granted the defendant bail in the sum\u00a0of N5 million, with two sureties in like sum.<\/p>\n
One of the sureties must be a level 16 officer with the Lagos\u00a0State government, while the other must be a relation of the defendant resident in Lagos.<\/p>\n
The Judge also directed that the addresses of the sureties\u00a0must be verified by the\u00a0EFCC, while evidence of identification of the sureties must be provided to the court.<\/p>\n
Justice Taiwo adjourned the case to October 18 and 23,2019 for commencement of trial and also ordered the defendant to be remanded in Kirikiri prison pending the perfection of his bail conditions.<\/p>\n
In a related development, another suspected internet fraudster, Ani John Chukwuebuka, was arraigned by the EFCC on Thursday, September19, 2019\u00a0before Justice Taiwo on a two-count charge bordering on making false\u00a0 statement to a public officer and destruction of evidence.<\/p>\n
The defendant was arrested during a recent collaborative operation by the EFCC and the FBI.<\/p>\n
One of the counts reads: \u201cThat you, Ani John Chukwuebuka,on or about the 2nd day of August, 2019 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this\u00a0Honourable Court, \u00a0with intent to cause Adenike Sanni,\u00a0a public officer and an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from performing her duty as an investigator, gave Adenike\u00a0Sanni false MTN phone number 08032558370 as your own personal number and thereby caused her to omit to investigate the MTN telephone\u00a0number which Adenike Sanni ought not to have omitted, if the true facts concerning the phone were known to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him by the EFCC.<\/p>\n
In view of his plea, the prosecution counsel, C.R. Edozie, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed the\u00a0court to remand the defendant in prison custody pending the\u00a0determination of the case.<\/p>\n
However, the defendant\u2019s lawyer informed the court that\u00a0an application for bail had been filed and served on the prosecution, adding that \u201c the prosecution\u00a0is yet to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his response, the prosecution counsel, Edozie, told the court that prosecution Intended to oppose the application and would respond.\u00a0\u201cMy Lord, we are still within the time stipulated by the Law to respond to such an application,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Consequently, Justice Taiwo adjourned the case to October\u00a02, 2019 for hearing of the bail application and ordered the defendant to be remanded in Ikoyi prison.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-news"],"yoast_head":"\n