Justice O. A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, May 15,2025, 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
(
Six
Million
Naira).
Media & Publicity
May 19, 2025
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