The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed an accusation of fraud against Dr John Abebe, the younger brother of a former First Lady, Stella Obasanjo, before the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja.
Counts levied against Dr John Abebe, Obasanjo’s Inlaw Abebe was charged with six counts of conspiracy, theft, and acquiring money by deception along with Kamoru Alade Oladimeji, a former head of Firstbank Plc’s United Kingdom Correspondent Office.
Count 1 states that:
The defendants were charged with a number of offences, one of which stated that Dr. John Abebe and Kamoru Alade Oladimeji “conspired among yourselves on or about the 4th day of June 2013 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court to commit felony, to wit: stealing the sum of N120 million in property of Arsenal Technologies Limited.”
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Count 2 reads:
That on or about the 4th day of June 2013, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, Dr. John Abebe, and Kamoru Alade Oladimeji conspired among yourselves to commit felony, namely, obtaining by false pretence the sum of N120 million property of Arsenal Technologies Limited under the pretence that your property lying being and situate at 9, Magbon Close, Ikoyi-Lagos State, which you pledged as the security to the Arsenal Technologies Limited was unencumbered, which representation you knew to be false.
Count 3 reads:
That on or about June 4, 2013, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, Dr. John Abebe, and Inducon Nigeria Limited, with intent to defraud and obtain for yourself the sum of $1,000,000.00 or its equivalent in Naira from Arsenal Technologies Limited, procured the execution of a deed of assignment between Inducon Nigeria Limited and Arsenal Technologies Limited, wherein you falsely claimed that the property lying being and situate at No. 9, Magbon Close, Ikoyi-Lagos was unencumbered and that you have full powers to assign and transfer the said property to the assignor; Arsenal Technologies Limited. The crimes committed, according to the EFCC, are against Sections 280(1), (12), 8 (7), 285(1), and 278(1)(b) of the Lagos State Criminal Laws of 2011.
However, the accused, Dr Abebe entered a not guilty plea to the accusation.
After the defendants entered a plea, the prosecutor, Sulaimon, pleaded with the court to set a trial date and confine the defendants in the care of the Nigerian Correctional Services until the hearing and resolution of the matter.
The defence attorneys, Sam Etaifo, and Anthony Popo sought the court to set the terms of the bail for their clients as lenient as possible.
Popo informed the judge that he is willing to settle the case out of court because it is a commercial transaction between the first defendant and the nominal complainant when he moved the bail application on behalf of Abebe.
He added that Abebe had repaid the complainant the sums of $100,000 and N30 million and had also deposited the title documents for 26 acres of land and the paperwork for a house in London to demonstrate his sincerity in resolving the issue.
The defence attorney added that the defendant would not break the terms of the administrative bail set by the EFCC since he never did.
Although the prosecution did not object to the application, they encouraged the judge to impose strict conditions that would guarantee the defendant’s attendance at their trial.
Meanwhile, Justice Abike-decision Fadipe allowed the first defendant to post bail in the amount of N20 million with one surety in the same amount. She stipulated that the surety must reside in Lagos and that the title deed for a land property must have a minimum value of N20 million.
