Fraud: Appeal Court Affirms Conviction of Ex-Lagos Court’s Registrar, Oluronke Rosolu
The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed an application filed by a former Lagos court registrar, Oluronke Rosulu, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by an Ikeja High Court for defrauding a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. -Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi( retd .) of $330,000. Roso lu had been convicted by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja on the two-count charge of conspiracy and obtaining money by e falspretenc es brought against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on December 21, 2015.
Rosulu had aided Fred Ajudua, a one-time Lagos socialite, to defraud Bamiayi when they were both remanded at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos for different offences .
Consequently, the appellant, through her lawyer filed a notice of appeal on December 30, 2015, challenging her conviction.
However, in a judgment delivered today, the Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal and affirmed the decision of the lower court.
The prosecution had told Justice Lawal-Akapo that Ajudua made a false representation to Bamaiyi that the $330,000 was the professional fees for the law firm of Afe Babalola and Co. to facilitate Bamaiyi’s release from prison, a claim which the firm denied.
During the trial, Rosulu had denied going to the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons or knowing Ajudua.
However, counsel to the prosecution presented a number of witnesses who testified that Rosulu went to the prison on different occasions to collect the money from Bamaiyi on behalf of Ajudua.
While delivering her judgment, Justice Lawal-Akapo had said: “The representation that she never collected $330,000 from the complainant is deceptive; the accused could not provide a strong alibi for her whereabouts when the fraud occurred.
“I find the accused guilty as charged. As a registrar of court , the accused should have been an image maker of the judiciary, but she acted in the contraryå.
‘‘On count one, I sentence the accused to 10 years imprisonment and on count two I sentence the accused to 10 years imprisonment.
“Both sentences are to run concurrently.”
Comments
Post a Comment