Court adjourns ex-Lagos Speaker, Ikuforiji money laundering trial

Court Sentence ten ‘yahoo boys’ for fraud,Theft On September 14, 2023, Justice O. A. Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, found ten individuals guilty of separate counts of internet fraud. Ikyegh Senenge Bobo, Anum Cyprian Sesugh, Boniface Udoo Aondofa, Utor Stanley Torkuma, Obande Emmanuel, James Ekere, Tony Ochekwu Moda, Ochaje James, Shadrach Ugbu Aondona, and Odumu Michael are the defendants who were brought to justice by the Makurdi Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The prisoners were taken into custody in Makurdi at various locations for allegedly participating in cybercrime. According to the investigation, they used various aliases to deceive people into entering into phony social relationships so they could steal money from them. Senenge was found guilty and given a one-year prison term with the possibility of a N500,000 fine by Justice Egwuatu. He was told to hand over two plots of land in Phase 1 of Makurdi's Gboko Road, an iPhone 13 Pro, a Pontiac Vibe 2009 model, and other items to the Nigerian federal government. Cyprian was given a one-year sentence with the possibility of a fine of N500,000. Additionally, he gives up an iPhone 11 Pro Max to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Aondofa was given a one-year prison term with the possibility of a fine of N200,000.00 and was ordered to give up an iPhone 7 to the Nigerian federal government. Stanley was given a one-year prison term and given the option of paying a fine of N200,000.00 or forfeiting an iPhone to the Nigerian federal government. In addition, he must give the victim N97,900 (Ninety Seven Thousand Nine Hundred Naira) in restitution. James received a one-year sentence with the option of a N100,000 fine and forfeited an iPhone 14 Pro Max to the Federal Government, while Emmanuel received the same punishment. Ochekwu and Ochaje received sentences of one year in prison with a possible fine of one million naira and 500,000 points, respectively. Ochaje was given orders to forfeit one iPhone 6 and one HP laptop to the Federal Government of Nigeria, while Ochekwu must forfeit an iPhone 3 and an iPhone 8. Michael and Shadrach were given the option of paying a fine of N200,000 and N300,000, respectively, in addition to their one-year sentences. Shadrach was told to give the federal government an iPhone XR. Some of the charges read: “That you, Ikyegh Senenge Bobo “M” sometime between December, 2022 to May, 2023 in Makurdi, Benue State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, sent an electronic message to one Daniella Alias Nagako, a female Japanese citizen based in the United States of America vide an Online App where you disguise yourself as a male citizen of Texas, United States of America with the name Nakamora by procuring Apple iTunes Cards valued at N5,662,200.00 from her and converted the proceeds into your Opay Limited wallet, Ikyegh Msendoo Mercy’s GT and Keystone Bank accounts respectively and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22 (3) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under same Section of the Act. “That you, Obande Emmanuel “M” (22 years) sometime between March and April, 2022 in Makurdi, Benue State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently obtained the sum of $1000 USD from unsuspecting foreign nationals by using Instagram account “taratwithdephina” through which you claimed to be a fortune teller offering consultancy and palm reading service to help them succeed in life and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (b) (i) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (1) (iv) of the Act. “That you, Abah James Ekere “M” (33 years) on or about 22 June, 2021, in Makurdi, Benue State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud knowingly sent electronic messages to Access Bank Plc and GT Bank that materially misrepresented the fact that a transaction of N1,500,000.00 (One Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira) and N400,000.00 (Four Hundred Thousand Naira) failed from your Access Bank account No. 0025620094 and GT. Bank account No. 0642871829 (from PoS terminal) which the Banks relied upon by making a chargeback to Accelerex Network Nigeria Limited who suffered a loss and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 14 (2) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under same Section of the Act. “That you, Shadrach Ugbu Aondona on or about February, 2022 in Makurdi, Benue State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, used the identity of one Caitlyn Anderson, an America social media model and created a Gmail account, caitlynaanderson2012@gmail.com linked with your Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts and sent fictitious messages to unsuspecting foreign nationals and obtained the sum of $2,000 (Two Thousand Dollars) only, which was converted and transferred to your Opay Account number 8073746212 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(2)(a) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition Prevention) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2) (b) (iv) of the same Act”.

A Federal High Court in Lagos State on Monday deferred the trial of a former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, over for alleged N338.8 million money laundering.

The case, which had been scheduled for trial continuation on November 15, was unable to progress because Justice Mohammed Liman, who was sitting in on a fiat, did not show up for court.

Despite having been moved out of the Lagos section, Justice Liman returns to oversee the case after a fiat. November 20 was set as the new date for the case.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has indicted Ikuforiji together with Oyebode Atoyebi, his former personal assistant.

They are facing 54 counts of allegations that are somewhat related to

When they were first charged in 2012, they were each granted an early bail, which allowed them to continue on their plea of not guilty.

Once the prosecution’s second witness was called, the EFCC ended its case on March 17, 2021.

There were two witnesses summoned by the prosecution to bolster its case.

Subsequently, Justice Liman was moved out of the Lagos division, and the case encountered other obstacles.

Mr. Dele Adesina, SAN, the defense attorney, commenced the defense case and started calling witnesses on May 4.

Three witnesses, including the first defendant (Ikuforiji), were called by the defense. Mr. Ikuforiji had testified, among other things, about how he was being charged based on an anonymous petition.

He informed the judge that the current case started with a written petition from an unidentified party who claimed to have stolen over N7 billion from the Lagos House of Assembly. As a result, the adoption of written addresses was set as the next step. The next court date for this matter is November 20.

On March 1, 2012, the defendants were initially arraigned before Justice Okechukwu Okeke on a 20-count charge that included allegations of money laundering and misappropriation. After entering not guilty pleas to the allegations, they were each given bail.

However, once the case was reassigned, the defendants were subsequently re-arrested before Justice Ibrahim Buba.

Mr. Buba had given them bail of N500 million apiece, along with sureties in the form of sun

On September 26, 2014, Justice Buba dismissed the accusations against Ikuforiji and his assistant, upholding the defendants’ no case motion. According to Mr. Buba, the EFCC was unable to prove a prima-facie case against them.

Dissatisfied with the verdict, the EFCC filed a Notice of Appeal on September 30, 2014, contesting the trial court’s decision, through its attorney, Godwin Obla, SAN.

Mr. Obla maintained that the counts were filed under Section 1(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004—a provision that was later repealed by an Act of 2011—and that the trial court erred in law when it determined that the counts were incompetent.

The EFCC further contended that the trial court made a legal error in concluding that the terms of Section

The commission further claimed that the trial judge had made a legal error in holding and concluding that the prosecution witnesses’ testimony proved the respondents’ innocence.

In November 2016, the Lagos Division of the Appeal Court upheld the prosecution’s position and mandated that the defendants face a new trial before a different judge.

After the Appeal Court’s ruling, the defendants went to the Supreme Court in an attempt to reverse the Appellate Court’s verdict.

The Supreme Court once more affirmed the appeal court’s ruling in its ruling and mandated that the matter be remanded to the Federal High Court Chief Judge for reassignment to a different judge.

The charge against the defendants stated that the EFCC claimed that they took cash payments beyond the Money Laundering Act’s threshold without going thru a banking institution.

The commission charged the defendants with planning to take N338.8 million in cash payments directly from the House of Assembly without first going through a financial institution, which is a prohibited act.

Additionally, Mr. Ikuforiji was charged with misappropriating Assembly funds by taking advantage of his position.

The defendants allegedly committed the offenses between April 2010 and July 2011, according to the EFCC.

The EFCC claims that the offenses violate Sections 15 (1d), 16(1d), and 18 of the Money Laundering Acts of 2004 and 2011.

 (NAN)

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