A former staff of Punch Nigeria Limited, Ogunbanjo Mikhail has been arraigned for reportedly defrauding two men of N950 million,
The 45-year-old who headed Copy Sales at Punch was arraigned on a three-count charge before a Sabo-Yaba Chief Magistrates Court in Lagos
While the Ex-Punch staff pleaded not guilty to the counts of obtaining by false pretences, forgery, and stealing, the prosecutor, ASP Rita Momah, maintained that the defendant committed the offences from January 2017 to December 2022 at Ikorodu, Lagos State.
According to NAN, Momah told the court that the former staff obtained the sum of N450 million from a certain Olusola lkuyajesin and N500 million from Durodola Balogun under deceitful pretences of using the money to purchase stationeries.
She added that the defendant, in contravention of Sections 287, 314, and 365 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, forged the organisation’s Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) to carry out the fraudulent acts.
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The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges proffered against him.
Subsequently, Adeola Olatubosun, the Chief Magistrate, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties in like sum. She also ordered Mikhail to deposit his international passport with the court.
The judge added that one of the sureties must have a landed property within the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned the case until April 5 for a substantive hearing.