26th June, 2014
Paul Iyoghojie
Operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, western Nigeria, have arraigned a branch manager with Seltic Investment Limited, Patrick Okekaro, 45, and Dapo Ademiluyi, 43, before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly using documents of a landed property to defraud a leading Nigerian bank, of the sum of N30 million.
They were charged on a four-count charge of felony to wit: fraud. The police prosecutor, Supol Olakanmi Omisope, told the court in charge No. A/29A/2014, that the accused persons committed the offence in August, 2011 in Lagos.
He said the accused persons with intent to defraud did knowingly make false landed property documents of a property at Plot 1, X1 Ext., Alabubosa, GRA, Ibadan, Oyo State, belonging to Prof. Michael Akenova and Prof. Yetunde Akenova and used them to obtain a credit facility from the bank without the consent of the couple.
He said the transaction became public knowledge when the accused could not pay back the loans within the agreed time, and the bank manager made efforts to take over the land. He said in the process, the rightful owners of the land surfaced and told the bank management that they owned the land with genuine documents and that they never used their property documents to obtain loans from any bank.Omisope said following the revelations, the bank manager reported a case of fraud to the police and the accused persons were arrested. The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge in the open court and Chief Magistrate, Mrs. A. O. Adedayo, admitted the first accused on bail in the sum of N3m and the second on bail in the sum of N1m with two sureties each in like sum.
She adjourned the matter till 14 July, 2914 for mention, while the defendants were taken to Ikoyi Prisons, Lagos when they could not fulfill the bail condition before the court closed for the day.