By Peter Jene, Senior National Correspondent
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Zuba is about to begin the trial of four senior executives of an Abuja-based corporation, together with the company itself, embroiled in an astounding N201 million fraud case. It is a courtroom drama that is scheduled to take place on May 6, 2024. On February 29, 2024, Beligetto Holding Company Limited, the accused individuals’ company, Harry Ositadinma Samuel, Ayodele Raymond, Gowon Usman Egbunu, and Alhaji Nuhu Amanabo, were arraigned on accusations related to gaining by false pretence.
The two-count allegations, which allege a conspiracy to commit an offence connected to obtaining properties by false pretence, expose a convoluted web of deceit. The first count describes the defendants’ scheme to use deceit to acquire properties, which violated Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and was illegal under Section 3.
The defendants are charged with intentionally misleading and defrauding Adeniran Oluwaseun Tope Jeremiah in the second count, which intensifies the stakes. The charge outlines how, in the year 2020, the accused parties, by false pretence, claimed to have secured a contract with the Nigeria Correctional Service for the supply of five units of SUV Toyota vehicles. The prosecution claims that this allegation is what caused the automobiles, which are worth a staggering N201 million, to be fraudulently acquired. According to Section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, the offence is considered to have violated Section 1(1) and is punished.
All of the defendants entered not guilty pleas at their arraignment, laying the groundwork for a court battle that should reveal the complexities of the purported scam. The prosecution, under the direction of attorney Khalid Sanusi, did not lose any time in requesting a date for the trial’s start and the defendants’ remand in a correctional facility.
Based on the defendants’ age and self-recognition, the case’s judge, K.N. Ogbonnaya, granted them bail with strict instructions to present in court on the days set for the trial. As a precaution, the judge made the defendants sign a bail. The accused may be held in a correctional facility until the trial is over if the bond is revoked due to noncompliance.
The judge set a N50,000,000.00 (fifty million naira) bond particularly for Beligetto Holding Company Limited, giving the bail requirements a financial component. Eager to move the legal processes forward as quickly as possible, Justice Ogbonnaya set the trial for May 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, and 16 of 2024.
The defendants are charged with masterminding a deceitful plan to acquire SUVs while pretending to be carrying out an agreement with the Nigeria Correctional Service. The details of the purported scam will be examined as the legal struggle progresses, illuminating the purported wrongdoings and revealing the layers of deceit that the accused parties painstakingly erected. As the wheels of justice start to turn in this high-stakes court case, stay tuned.
