Exclusive as Seun Egbegbe spends 20th month in prison, appears in court today

For failure to meet the N 5 m bail granted him by the Federal High Court in Lagos , Nollywood film -maker, Olajide Kazeem , better known as Seun Egbegbe , has so far spent about 20 months in prison custody.

The erstwhile Lagos socialist has been kept away since February 10 , 2017, after he was arraigned by the police for alleged serial frauds involving N 39 , 098 ,100 , $ 90 , 000 and £ 12 , 550 . The police alleged that Egbegbe fraudulently obtained the money from no fewer than 40 Bureau De Change operators in Lagos over a period of two years – 2015 to 2017 .

He was said to have allegedly swindled the BDC operators by falsely representing to them that he had naira to change into foreign currencies and vice versa .
Egbegbe, alongside one Oyekan Ayomide, was first arraigned on February 10 , 2017 before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo , on 36 counts bordering on advance fee fraud.
The charge sheet was subsequently amended twice, with the counts eventually increased to 40 and three other defendants – Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo – added.

The prosecuting counsel for the police , Innocent Anyigor , said Egbegbe and the other defendants acted contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and were liable to be punished under Section 1 (3 ) of the same Act .
They, however , pleaded not guilty .
On February 24 , 2017 , Justice Oguntoyinbo granted each of them N 5 m bail with two sureties in like sum.

The judge said one of the sureties must be a civil servant on at least Level 16 and must own a landed property in Lagos State .
The surety, the court said, must deposit the Certificate of Occupancy of the landed property in the custody of the court .
Both sureties were to swear to affidavit of means while their addresses were to be verified by the court registrar . Justice Oguntoyinbo ordered that the defendants should be remanded in the prison custody until they meet the bail conditions.

About 20 months after the bail was granted, Egbegbe , who was known for lavish spending , has, however , remained in the Ikoyi Prison custody, as he has not been able to meet the bail conditions. The police prosecutor , Anyigor , had told the court that he had no fewer than 40 witnesses , including the BDC operators , who would testify against Egbegbe and his co - defendants in court.

On March 10 , 2017 , over 30 BDC operators stormed the court for the trial.
So far , the prosecution has called four witnesses .
The trial had been slowed down sometimes due to inability of investigating police officers , who were listed as witnesses , to attend the court .

At other times , the case was stalled because the Hausa BDC operators , who were listed as witnesses , complained of inability to either speak or understand English language and an interpreter had to be arranged .
The case was last heard on November 1 , 2018 and it is billed to resume on Monday (today ) for continuation of trial.

via punch