Tuesday, February 10, 2015

EFCC arraigns three for forgery, fraud


EFCC arraigns three for forgery, fraud
Three men, Daniels Nat, Dennis Edimoh and Peter Oko Amadi have all pleaded not guilty to charges of forgery and fraud.

The trio made the plea yesterday after they were arraigned before Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on a four-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, forgery and conspiracy.
According to the Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, the accused allegedly forged Federal Government Certificate of Occupancy to plot No 42, Block XIII, Federal Government Layout, Gwarimpa District, Abuja, which was duly allotted to one Mr Adekoya Daniel Oladepo.
He said: “The trio used the forged certificate as collateral to solicit investment from Ambifel Services Limited, whom they swindled to the tune of N7 million having promised 30 per cent return on investment after a maturity period of 60 days. Since the release of the fund, they went underground.”
Count two of the charge reads: “That Daniels Nat, Dennis Edimoh and Peter Oko Amadi sometime in September, 2012 within the judicial division of the High Court of the FCT being entrusted with the sum of N7,000,000 only, dishonestly converted same to your own use and thereby committed breach of trust in respect of the said amount, an offence punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code LFN (Abuja) 1990”.
The accused pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them. In view of the plea, the prosecuting counsel, Faruk Abdallah, applied for a date to enable the prosecution to open its case. Counsel to the first accused, N.U Akpan, through an oral application, pleaded for bail of his client (Daniels Nat), stating that bail was a constitutional right. Counsel to the second accused, M. Igwe, aligned himself with the position of the first accused counsel in praying for the bail of his client. He also told the court that the accused had been on administrative bail and been appearing before EFCC anytime the need arose.
While relying on sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Igwe prayed the court to consider his client for bail saying, “the offence is bailable.” Counsel to the third accused, L. O. Ilechukwu, also aligned herself with the prayers of the other counsel, stating that the accused had not breached any term granted him by EFCC.

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