Lagos accountant arraigned over N10m fraud

Rasak Adeniji, an accountant, was charged by the Lagos State Police Command in a Yaba Magistrates' Court with allegedly robbing Damtina Stores Limited of N10m and making claims on the company's assets.

The 50-year-old was charged with seven counts of conspiracy, false statement of facts, theft, wrongful eviction, and claim to employer's property before Magistrate A.O. Olatunbosun.

On September 28, 2021, Adeniji sent two letters to the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority using the letterhead of Damtina Stores Limited without the company's permission, according to the police prosecutor Morufu Animashaun, who testified in court.

Animashaun claimed that the defendant wrongfully evicted Jonathan Agwu from the company's premises at No. 18 Abibu Oki Street in Lagos Island by lying to an Epe Magistrates' Court.

Agwu was wrongfully evicted, the prosecutor claims, because the defendant lied in court and distorted the truth about his status as a tenant.

Animashaun also informed the court that the defendant forged Damtina Stores Limited lease documents to lease the property to Paulijyk Interbiz Limited and obtained N250,000 from the business to expedite the lease of the property to them.

The offenses, according to Animashaun, were against the Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015 Criminal Laws and were punishable under sections 325(1), 287(8), 370(a)(b), 96(a), 83(b), and 412.

The charges read in part, “That you, Rasak Adeniji, and others still at large, sometime between September and December 2018, at 18, Abiku Oki Street, Lagos Island, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did conspire to defraud Damitina Stores Limited of its property, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 325 (1) of the of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.”

The accused entered a not-guilty plea to the accusations.

The prosecutor requested that Adeniji be held in a detention facility while the lawsuit was being heard.

O. Olusumade, the defense attorney, petitioned the court to grant bail to his client.

Magistrate Olatunbosun granted the request and released the defendant on bail in the amount of N1 million with two responsible sureties in the same amount. She added that one of the sureties had to be a blood relative of the defendant and the second surety had to be a landowner within the court's territorial jurisdiction.

The defendant must remain in the Ikoyi Custodial Center until his bail conditions have been satisfied, the magistrate further directed.

Adjournment of the matter until February 27, 2023.

Source