A Special Offences Court in Ikeja has fixed the commencement of trial of a
self-acclaimed foreign exchange, FOREX, trader, Nanpan Yaniyang, till March 29, for allegedly defrauding investors of N17.5m and $6,300.
It was gathered that Yaniyang collected the said sums from one Valerie Okoli and other investors on the pretext of helping them to incorporate a company and invest the money in forex.
Yaniyang was arraigned on four counts bordering on stealing and obtaining by false pretences before Justice O. O. Abike-Fadipe.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following his plea, the prosecuting counsel, Ayanfe Ogunsina, asked the court for a trial date and urged it to remand the defendant in custody.
The defence counsel, Cyril Ebeh, informed the court of the bail application filed on behalf of his client.
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Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the matter till March 29, 2021, for the hearing of the bail application.
However the Judge ordered that the defendant be remanded in any of the correctional centres in the state pending the determination of his bail application.
The charges read in part, “That you, Nanpan Salihu Yaniyang, sometime in 2020 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N17,449,000 from Valerie Okoli and her co-investors under the pretext that you would help them incorporate a company, and use the said fund to invest in forex, which you knew or ought to know was false.
“That you Nanpan Salihu Yaniyang, sometime in 2020 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of $6,300 from Valerie Okoli and her co-investors under the pretext that you would use the said fund to invest in forex, which pretext you knew or ought to know was false.”
