Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of a Federal High Court in Lagos, has lambasted the Nigeria Police for tampering with foreign currencies exhibit in the trial of a movie maker, Seun Egbegbe who was alleged to have defrauded several Bureau De Change, BDC Operators.
The judge who expressed the displeasure while delivering judgment noted that the police did not conduct a diligent investigation.
“From the avalanche of evidence before this Honourable Court, it is crystal clear the Nigerian Police tampered with the various sums of money collected from the 1st & 2nd Defendants. The serial number of the various sum of money was not recorded by the Exhibit Keeper nor the Exhibit Ledger tendered before this Honourable Court.
“The Nigerian Police Force, Lagos State Police State Criminal Investigation & Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba and the entire Lagos Police Command and sadly its Legal Department have failed in the discharge of these solemn responsibilities to present the actual exhibits before this Honourable Court.
“These law enforcement agencies should not be seen to play hanky – panky with crucial items necessary for the determination of issues of this ilk.
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“Therefore, I am inclined to direct the registrar of this Honourable Court to return the 1st & 2nd Defendant’s sums of money entered as exhibits before this Honourable Court back to the 1st and 2nd Defendants respectively.
“I hereby acquit and discharge the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Defendants from the charges levelled against them.
“Most importantly, the prosecution witnesses’ gave a contradictory testimonies and failed to satisfy the exact various sums of money contained in the majority of the unviable and unsupported counts of charges filed against the convict, Egbegbe.
The actor was arraigned by the police in February 2017 on 36 counts of advance fee fraud involving N39 million; $90,000 and £12,550.
The police alleged that Egbegbe fraudulently obtained the money from no fewer than forty Bureau De Change operators in Lagos for two years between 2015 and 2017.
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Egbegbe, who once managed Fuji artistes, Wale Ayinde Tekoma and Pasuma, was said to have swindled the BDC operators.
He was accused of falsely telling them he had naira to change into foreign currencies and vice versa.
The erstwhile Lagos socialite pleaded not guilty and was remanded in prison custody on February 10, 2017, pending when he would satisfy his bail terms.
However, he was unable to perfect the bail conditions and he remained in detention throughout the trial.
The charge sheet was subsequently amended twice, with the counts eventually increased to forty and three other defendants, Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo we’re added, making the defendants five.
The five Defendants entered pleas of not guilty to the 1st and 2nd counts while Egbegbe, the 1st Defendant, pleaded not guilty to the remaining thirty-eight counts.
Before his arrest, Egbegbe’s publicised affair with actress, Toyin Abraham, a few years ago.
