Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Special Offences Court has fixed Tuesday, to rule on the bail application filed by an alleged kingpin of an internet fraud syndicate of about 792 suspects arrested in December, Friday Audu.
He is standing trial alongside a company, Genting International Ltd, on an amended forgery charge of eight counts, bought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
At Monday’s proceedings, the prosecution, led by Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, counsel asked that the amended charge be read to the defendants for their pleas to be taken.
Mr Audu pleaded not guilty, while the court entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the second defendant, Genting International Ltd.
The defendants are alleged to have forged a document titled Ultimate Beneficial Ownership Declaration Form, purportedly signed by one Baffale Yakubu in 2024 in Lagos.
They are also accused of knowingly forging documents and falsely holding themselves out as other individuals in order to perpetrate fraudulent activities.
One of the three witnesses for the prosecution, Nasiru Barau, when being led in evidence, said he dropped out of junior secondary school, and denied being a director or shareholder in the company.
“I have never heard of Genting International before the EFCC invited me,” he told the court. “I am not a director. It is only my brother, Baffale Yakubu, who is a director.”
When shown a document listing him as a shareholder with 12 million shares and the email address nasirubarau@gmail.com, the witness responded: “I don’t know this document. This is the first time I am seeing it. That is not my email. I don’t understand anything about shares.”
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Kunle Adegoke (SAN), the witness admitted making a statement at the EFCC.
He confirmed that two people (his lawyer, Nojim Adeoye, and one Rabiu Ismail), had written statements on his behalf while in EFCC’s custody which he then signed.
“Yes, that is my signature,” he acknowledged when shown the signed statement.
He had also stated that he had his primary school and finished his secondary school education, though under re-examination, he said he did not finish his secondary school education.
Asked if he was a director at a bureau de change company owned by his brother, he said yes, and that he was an assistant.
After hearing from the witness, Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter till Tuesday.
