LAGOS – Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday sentenced a 30-year-old businessman, Justin Onyewesi, to one year imprisonment for fraud.
The convict, a dealer in phone accessories, had pleaded guilty to a four-count charge of fraud and issuance of a dud cheque for N742,555.
Consequently, Idris sentenced him to one year imprisonment on each count, adding that the term shall commence from the date when the accused was arrested.
“Following the plea of the accused, he is convicted as charged and he is hereby sentenced to one year imprisonment on each count.
“The term of imprisonment shall run concurrently and shall begin from Oct. 2, 2013, the date of his arrest,” he ruled.
The accused was first arraigned on Jan. 29, 2014, but he pleaded not guilty to the charge.
He was, however, remanded in prison as no bail application was made on his behalf.
At the last adjournment on Oct. 22, the accused had opted to change his plea from not guilty to guilty.
The judge then ordered his re-arraignment, and the accused this time, pleaded guilty to the charges.
Idris had entered his plea and adjourned the case for a review of facts and sentencing.
When the case was mentioned, the prosecutor, Mr Nosa Watson, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Aug. 17, 2013at G Enterprises in Okota, a Lagos suburb.
He said the accused had obtained 4,000 pieces of batteries parked in five cartons from a dealer, one Mr Ejike Itanyi, valued at N742,555.
Onyewesi had promised to issue him a cheque to cover the transaction, Watson said.
According to the prosecutor, on Aug. 19, 2013, Onyewesi issued a cheque for the said sum to the complainant, but the cheque was dishonoured because of insufficient funds.
He said that on Sept. 5 and Sept. 17 Onyewesi also issued cheques in the value of the money, but they were also dishonoured on presentation at the bank.
The offences, he noted, contravened Sections 419 and 419 (b) of the Criminal Code, Laws of the Federation, 2004 as well as Section 1(1) of the Dishonoured Cheques Act, 2004.(NAN)
