Court Jails Lagos Couple For 14 Years Over N67.6m Fraud, Orders Full Refund

A Lagos couple, Harry Uyanwanne and his wife, Oluwakemi Odia, also known as Kristein Uyanwanne, have each been sentenced to 14 years in prison for defrauding beneficiaries of a deceased man’s estate of N67.66million by fraudulently selling a disputed property.

The trial judge, Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, who handed down the verdict, also ordered the convicts to refund the full amount of N67,659,592 to the petitioner, Olusola Odemuyiwa.

The couple were convicted on three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing, and obtaining money by false pretence brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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The court, however, discharged them on the fourth count, which concerned forgery.

The defendants pleaded not guilty, leading to a full trial.

During the trial, the prosecutor, Fadeke Giwa, called three witnesses and tendered several documentary exhibits.

The couple called one witness in their defence.

In her judgment, Justice Dada held that the EFCC had proved the allegations against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt and found them guilty on the three counts.

The judge sentenced the convicts to three years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, one year for stealing and 10 years for obtaining money by false pretence, without the option of a fine.

The sentences total 14 years’ imprisonment each.

Justice Dada ordered, however, that the sentence imposed on the first defendant be suspended until he is apprehended.

One charge alleged that, sometime in 2010 in Lagos, the couple conspired to sell a property at 19, Murtala Mohammed Way, Ebute Meta, Oyingbo, Lagos, for N16 million, falsely claiming the bona fide beneficiaries of the estate of the late Dr Moshood Babatunde Odemuyiwa had authorised them.

The charge stated that the defendants knew the representation was false but claimed they had authority to dispose of the property.

Another count alleged that the property was sold to Harry Uyanwanne for N16m on the same false representation that the first defendant had the consent and authority of the estate’s rightful beneficiaries to sell it.

The EFCC alleged that the couple dishonestly conspired to steal property belonging to the beneficiaries of the estate of the late Dr Moshood Babatunde Odemuyiwa.

The alleged offence was said to be contrary to Section 285(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.