Alleged N100m fraud: Indian, Nigerian accomplice get N5m bail

Left-: Olakunle Bello Shola and Inda-born Canadian, Santosh Singh, who allegedly defrauded a Nigeria Bank of N100m, after their arraignment on October 28, 2019

(Nigeria) An India-born Canadian, Santosh Singh  and a Nigerian, Olakunle Bello Shola, who were alleged to have defrauded a bank of the sum of N100, 075 million, have been admitted to bail in the sum of N5 million with two sureties by a Federal High Court, Lagos.
Both Santosh, 43 and Olakunle, 31 were arraigned before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo led-court, last Monday, by the men of Police Special Fraud Unit, PSFU, Ikoyi-Lagos, on one count charge of fraud.

The offence, according to the prosecutor, Mr Azuibuike, is contrary to Section 1 (2) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 but Punishable Under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.

And following the defendants' not guilty plea, their counsel led by Mr. Olalekan Ojo and E.  Adeniji, had moved their bail applications, while the prosecutor, Azubuike had also moved his counter-affidavit to the bail applications. And the court had adjourned for ruling on the application.

Ruling on the bail applications, Justice Ofuntoyinbo, admitted to bail the two defendants in the sum of N5 million with two sureties each.

One of the sureties according to Justice Oguntoyinbo must be a Civil Servant on Grade Level 15 in federal establishment, while the second surety must be a landed property owner within Lagos State.

The judge also ordered that the sureties must submit their letter of employment and a recommendations letter from their Head of Department, in case of Civil Servant. And that the second surety must submit the original copy of Certificate of Occupancy, C of O.

Justice Oguntoyinbo also ordered the Indian born Canadian to obtain a letter of undertaken from Indian and Canada consulates, indicating that he would not travel out of Nigeria during the pendency of the charge against him.

The judge ordered that all the bail conditions are to verified by the Court's Registrar. And that the defendants are to remanded I'm custody of Nigeria Correctional Services, NCS, till the perfection of the bail conditions. 

Arraigning the defendants before the court, last Monday, the prosecutor, Mr. Azuibuike, had told the court that the defendants and one Vivek Bansal, now at large, defrauded the bank of the said amount through their company,  Thramaseed Inpex Limited.

To commit the alleged act, Azubuike told the court that defendants induced the bank represented by a collateral agent, named Continental Logistics Limited, to confer a benefit to them by transferring 240 metric tonnes of sesame seed and 44.9 metric tonnes of Cashew nuts, to be stored in Kano and Lagos Warehouses, under false pretence that they have the bank's authority to release the commodities.

He told the court that the collateral management company, Continental Logistics Limited, representing the bank had take the Thramaseed Inpex Limited and its Directors before a Lagos Federal High Court, for stocks interference and unauthorized release of its commodities (saseme seeds and cashew nuts).