Justice Sule Hassan of a Federal High Court, Lagos, has fixed December 9, for ruling on bail application of alleged two internet fraudsters, Kayode Philip a.k.a. Voice of the King and his Lebanese accomplice, Hamza Koudeih a.k.a. HK.
Both Kayode and Hamza are being arraigned before Justice Hassan’s court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on alleged multimillion dollars internet fraud.
They were arraigned before the court on November 28, on a 25 count-charge of conspiracy, phishing, spamming and unlawful conversion.
The offences according to the EFCC lawyer, Abubakar Muhammed contravened sections 18(a), 15(2)(d), 18(c) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2015 and punishable under section 15(3) of the same Act.
The two defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the resumed hearing of the alleged internet Fraudsters bail applications, their lawyers, Oluwadare Falana and Abdulhammed Muhammed, urged the court to grant their clients bail in the most liberal terms.
The defendants’ lawyers cited sections 35 and 36 of 1999 Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria (as amended) and sections 158, 162,163 and 164 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which they said allowed the court to grant bail to the defendants, as they are presumed to be innocent until contrary is proven.
Responding, the prosecutor, Mr. Muhammed, pleaded with the court to discountenance the defendants’ bail applications.
He argued that the first defendant, Kayode, has versatile knowledge on internet, and might tamper with the evidence to be used against him.
For the second defendant, the Prosecutor argued that Hamza resisted arrest to the extent of hidden in the roof of his house when the EFCC operatives wanted to arrest him.
He emphasised that the second defendant’s attitude while in the EFCC’s custody was not of good act.
He cited section 162 of ACJA 2015, to support his submission.
Justice Hassan, after listened to the parties submissions on the bail applications, while adjourning till Monday for ruling ordered that the two defendants be remanded in prison.
In the charge, the two defendants were alleged to have sometimes in May, 2019, conspired among themselves to unlawfully convert the sum of $7, 069 million, £1 million and €80,000, which were proceed of unlawful act.
They were also accused of attempted to retain the sum of $700,000 in Multi Currency account No. 012-611-2-009379-4 domiciled in Bank of China (Hongkong) Limited in the name of Pung Shen Technology Trading Co. Limited, which sum you reasonably ought to have form part of the proceeds of fraud.
They were also alleged to have sometimes in the months of July and October, 2019, unlawfully retained the sum of £1 million and £3.5 million in a multiple currency account number 012-968-2-002658-3 domiciled in Bank of China (Hongkong) Limited in the name of HongKong Zhongli Industrial Co. Limited.
Kayode Philip was alleged to have unlawfully retained the sum of over thirty million naira in United Bank of Africa Plc (UBA) account numbers 102030764 and 107030764, belonging to Influx Computer and Hardware Limited and DAKOTA Entertainment Limited.
