Justice O. A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, convicted and sentenced one Ajanaku Oluwatomilola to three years imprisonment for N14.5m fraud.
The convict was re-arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on April 14, 2024 on a six-count charge bordering on stealing , obtaining money and property by false pretence and retention to the tune of N14.5m.
The defendant, sometime in 2021, received the sum of N14.5m from some petitioners as investment capital. It was agreed that the return on investment would run for three months.
The defendant, however, reneged on the agreement as she stopped payment of the agreed return on investment to the petitioners after two months.
Investigation revealed that the defendant did not have a licence to conduct capital market operations or call for investments from the members of the public.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Ajanaku Oluwatomilola, trading under the name and style of Yenniegoldie Signature, sometime in 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, stole and dishonestly converted to your own, the sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira), property of one Truetalk Telecom Services, thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charge preferred against her, thereby leading to her trial.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, F. Ofoma, called four witnesses, including Christopher Ameh, an investigative officer with the EFCC, and the petitioners.
The defence counsel, O. Ajanaku, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying “the convict is a first-time offender and he is remorseful.”
He also told the court that he would ensure that restitution is paid to the nominal petitioners.
Delivering judgment, Justice Okunuga found the defendant guilty on three counts of stealing and sentenced her to one year imprisonment on each of the counts.
She was, however, discharged of the counts of obtaining money and property by false pretence and retention.
The judge also ordered her to make restitution to the petitioners to the tune of N6,000,000.
