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Stockbroker Bags 7 Years Imprisonment Over N139m Fraud
Newsdiaryonline Friday June 10,2011
Justice
Shuaibu Mohammed of the Federal High
Court sitting in
Kaduna
has convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment the
Chief Executive of Credence Investment Ltd, a stock broking
firm, Mr. Oladele Shittu. The convict was brought before the
court on a 136 count charge by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over a
N139 million fraud.
Shittu was
first arraigned by the EFCC on Tuesday, March 23, 2010, on a 136
count charge of fraud. His arrest followed series of petitions
from his supposed clients who turned out to be victims who he
allegedly lured into investing their money in stocks between
2006 and 2007.
The 136
count charge detailed how Oladele collected various sums
totaling about N139, 626,170.20, (One hundred and thirty nine
million, six hundred and twenty six thousand one hundred and
seventy thousand and twenty naira) from over 130 victims within
the jurisdiction of the court with the intent to defraud and
obtain under the pretence that he was
investing in the stock market .
When the matter came up on Friday June 10, 2011 for judgement
after months of legal fireworks by both the prosecution and
defence counsel,
Shittu was found guilty on
all the 136 count charge and consequently sentenced to 943 years
which is to run concurrently for a period of seven calender
years.
On
counts 135 and 136 which bordered on non-registration of his
stock broking firm with the Security and Exchange Commission,
SEC the judge agreed with the prosecution that there were
sufficient evidence linking the accused with the crime and
intention to defraud by falsely claiming to be a stock broker
and his company a brokerage firm.
While Dapo Laoke represented the convict as defence counsel in
the case, Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad stood in as the EFCC counsel
Among Oladele’s victims are Brigadier General Adamu Bura Maraw
and Col. G.S Udoenang who lost N1,113,000.00 (one million one
hundred and thirteen thousand naira only) and N1,000,000.00 (
One million naira only) respectively.
Count one of the charge against Oladele reads: “That you Shittu
Oladele being the director of Credence Investments Limited
sometime between 2006 and 2007 within the jurisdiction of this
honourable court with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N
46,016,526.60 (Forty six million, sixteen thousand, five hundred
and twenty six naira, sixty kobo) from one Musa Yakubu and
others under the false pretence that you were in to stock market
business and was going to buy shares for them from the stock
market which you did not and thereby committed an offence
contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the
Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act
2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act”
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