The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kolawole Babalola

  • N8bn currency scam: Court refuses bail to ailing accused

    N8bn currency scam: Court refuses bail to ailing accused

    A Federal High Court in Ibadan on Thursday refused the bail applications filed by the seven accused persons standing trial over alleged N8 billion currency scam.

    The accused are; Kolawole Babalola, Muniru Olaniran, Kayode Togun, Isiaq Akano, Festus Adeyemi, Akeem Oyebanji and Ayodele Alese.

    Justice Joyce Abdulmaleek in a ruling turned down the applications believing that the accused might jump bail and refuse to show up for trial.

    “I have previously refused similar bail application and I know that the only option left for the applicants is to appeal the decision of the court.

    “The accused persons have also failed to convince this court that their ailment was contagious even though they said that the medical facilities in the prison were not adequate to cater for their deteriorating health.

    “In exercising my discretionary power, I see the possibility of the accused persons jumping bail if granted bail.

    “Therefore, the application for bail is refused and dismissed accordingly,” she ruled.

    After the ruling, the judge adjourned the case till Nov. 21, for continuation of trial.

    Earlier, Mr R. O. Sadiq, counsel to all the applicants had tendered a bail application, citing deplorable health conditions of his clients as reason for the bail application.

    Sadiq had asked the court to consider various portions of the constitution as well as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in her decision.

    Mr Adebisi Adeniyi, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ), hwever, opposed the bail application, saying the accused persons might jump bail.

    Adeniyi also reminded the court that it had rejected all previous bail applications tendered by the accused.

    Similarly, the court also turned the bail application tendered by one Esther Olunike-Afolabi in a sister case.

    Olunike-Afolabi was earlier convicted and jailed in the case when she opted for plea bargain arrangement with the EFCC.

    Due to her involvement in another case, she was produced in court, but her bail was rejected.

    Meanwhile, in another sister case, Mr Eddwin Ennah, a former Head of Currency Processing and Disposal Unit, Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) Ibadan office, who testified in the case, said he was shocked to see newspapers cut to the size of Naira notes in a box meant to contain N10 million.

    Testifying before Abdulmaleek, Ennah stated that the box was supposed to be containing N10 million made up of N500 notes all through, however, the box was interleaved with N100 notes and cut papers.

    “My lord, another terrible thing during that box inspection period was when our then Branch Controller asked us to cover up that discovery.

    “However, I disagreed with him.

    “The Branch Controller asked each of us to contribute certain amount to make up the loss sum in the box that was interleaved,” Ennah told the court.

    The witness further pointed out that election fraud was not the only avenue of great corruption in Nigeria, but also that several billions of Naira were usually lost to such exercise at the CBN.

    Babalola, Olaniran and Togun along with others have since 2015 been facing multiple charges bordering on conspiracy, conversion, forgery, recirculation of mutilated currencies and stealing of N8 billion at Ibadan office of CBN.

    NAN

  • N8bn fraud: Accused persons poured acidic substance on currency notes – Witness

    A Deputy Director with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Isyaku Mohammed, on Thursday told a Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan how 14 staff of the apex bank and some commercial banks’ staff poured acidic substance on currency notes kept in 20 boxes of N1000 denomination in an attempt to defraud the bank.

    Mohammed was in the dock as prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of bankers involved in the N8 billion mutilated currency scam.

    The suspects – Togun Kayode Philip, Muniru Olaniran Adeola and Kolawole Babalola – were standing trial for their roles in the scam.

    They were arraigned for stealing and conspiracy by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Testifying before Justice Ayo Emmanuel, the CBN official said the scam was noticed following a petition by the management of Zenith Bank Plc to the CBN governor, alleging irregularities in the operations of the staff.

    He said after the receipt of the petition, the CBN raised a committee which investigated and wrote a report on its findings.

    EFCC’s counsel, Adebiyi Adeniyi, urged the court to admit the audit report as exhibit, but that was objected by counsel to the 4th defendant, Togun Kayode Philip, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, on the ground that it has no relevance to the case.

    After argument by both parties, Justice Emmanuel ruled that the report be admitted because it is central to the case.

    Mohammed said apart from the discovery that the boxes were corroded with acidic substance, investigations revealed that internal control at the Ibadan branch of the apex bank has collapsed completely at the time the fraud was committed.

     

  • Mutilated currency scam: Counsel’s absence stalls suspects’ trial

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mutilated currency scam before Justice Joyce Abdulmaleek of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, suffered another adjournment on Monday due to the absence of Mr. Olayinka Bolanle, a defence counsel.

    Bolanle is the counsel to Kolawole Babalola, the first accused person.

    Abdulmaleek, in her ruling, adjourned the case till March 27.

    She held that it was the last time she would be adjourning the case for no reason at the instance of Bolanle.

    The counsel to other accused persons – Muniru Olaniran, Kayode Togun, Olukunle Sijuwade and Kehinde Fatokunbo – had always been present in court.

    At the resumed hearing of the case, Mr. Adebisi Adeniyi, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had expressed his frustration at the slow pace of trial due to the persistent absence of Bolanle.

    Adeniyi contended that it was not the first time the defence counsel would not be in the court in respect of this case.

    The prosecution, however, prayed the court to continue the trial with or without Bolanle since he did not give any reason for his absence and in the interest of the other accused persons.

    The accused persons had been standing trial since 2015 over multiple charges of conspiracy, forgery, stealing and recirculation of mutilated currencies at Ibadan branch of CBN.

    NAN

  • N8b fraud: EFCC concludes 22 bankers’ arraignment

    The last batch of six Central Bank of Nigeria staff and 16 workers of various commercial banks were on Thursday arraigned before Justice Adeyinka Faaj of a Federal High sitting in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, setting the stage for commencement of trial of the accused persons in a N8billion fraud.

    Docked at the resumed arraignment of the banks’ staff are three CBN staff including Kolawole Babalola, Olaniran Muniru Adeola and Toogun Kayode Phillip.

    Also arraigned are – Ajuwon Bolade and Samuel Ogbeide, both staff of Zenith Bank Plc.

    They were said to have conspired with other two suspects – Onabanjo Olumayowa and Tijani Olusoga, who were now at large, between 2011 and 2012 in Ibadan, and delivered on false pretence a sum of N1, 060,000,000 to the CBN, with an intent to defraud, conspired, and commit an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act,2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

    A total of 14 charges were preferred against the accused and they pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

    Responding to the charge read out to him by the court Registrar, one of the accused persons, Ajuwon Bolade said,” I am not guilty my lord because I am still leaving in a rented apartment .”

    However, Justice Faaj, who was amused by the accused response quickly corrected his impression that what the charge meant was that “he was in possession of the currency in question.”

    After taken the plea from the accused persons, Justice Faaj, fixed June 12 for hearing of bail applications and ordered that the five accused persons be remanded in Agodi prisons.

     

     

  • Fraud: Six CBN staff, four others remanded in prison

    The six staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and four others were on Tuesday ordered to be remanded in prison till June 9 when their application for bail will be heard.

    They were remanded by Justice Ayo Emmanuel of a Federal High Court, Ibadan, where they are standing trial in seven cases brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on behalf of the Federal Government.

    The accused are facing 31-count charge ranging from conspiracy, abuse of office, stealing to false declaration of actual amount and concealing of property.

    The CBN staff who worked at various branches of the apex bank are – Patience Okoro (Abuja), Afolabi Olufemi (Lagos), Ilori Adekunle (Akure), Kolawole Babalola (Ibadan) Olaniran Adeola (Ibadan) and Fatai Yusuf (Ibadan).

    The four other accused persons, who work with some commercial banks and are accused of conspiring with the CBN staff are – Tope Akintade, Togun Kayode Philip, Salami Ibrahim and Odia Emmanuel.

    Seven cases are filed on the fraud totaling N8 billion. They were accused of stealing and re-circulating defaced and mutilated currencies meant for destruction, substituting them with newspapers.

    They all pleased “not guilty” to the five-count charge in the first case.

    At the opening of the first batch of three cases on Tuesday, counsels to the accused labored in vain to make the judge accept oral application for their bail.

    The lead prosecution counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), addressed the court, informing the judge that his team had filed a charge dated May 19 and urged court to accept it and permit it to be read to the accused.

    While making the oral application for his client (Kolawole Babalola)’s bail, Barr. O. Bolanle, who led the pack of defence counsels, urged the court to grant the bail because the offences allegedly committed were not punishable by death if found guilty.

    He tried to persuade the judge to accept the oral application and use his discretion in favour of his client.

    But the judge intercepted him, wondering if he thought oral application for bail could be granted on such weighty offences.

    Bolanle, however, persisted with tenacity, emphasizing that the nature of application that can be granted for bail is not explicitly stated in the law. He insisted that it was in the discretion of the judge to grant it irrespective of whether the application was oral or written.