Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has remanded a trader, Chucks Abada, at the Ikoyi Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) for allegedly obtaining goods worth $20,000 from a Chinese woman, Xing Huiyuan, by false pretence.
Justice Aluko sent Abada to prison after he pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge of fraud brought against him by the men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU).
The prosecutor, Sylvester Azubike, had earlier informed the court that the defendant fraudulently obtained the goods worth $20,000 from the foreigner with the pretence that he would reimburse her after selling the goods.
Azubike also claimed that the defendant, however, refused to remit the proceeds after selling off the goods.
He maintained that the offence is contrary to section 1 (1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and is punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.
The defendant, who elected to take his plea despite not having any legal representation, pleaded not guilty.
With the defendant’s plea, the prosecutor asked the court for a short adjournment for the trial to commence.
After listening to the lawyer, Justice Akintayo Aluko adjourned the case to January 3, 2024, for the start of the trial and the hearing of the defendant’s bail application.
The charge against the defendant read: “that you, Chuks Abada ‘M’, sometime between 2010 and 2014 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud did obtain Goods valued at Twenty Thousand United States of America Dollars (20, 000.00 USD) only property of one Xing Huiyuan a Chinese Woman under the pretext that you will remit the money when the said goods are sold which representation you knew to be false 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.”
