Naira Abuse: Sallah holiday delays Bobrisky’s judgment

The court will communicate a new date to the parties.

News Agency of Nigeria • April 9, 2024

Bobrisky [Credit: Vanguard]

The Sallah holiday on Tuesday stalled judgment by a Federal High Court in Lagos against convicted crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, over naira abuse.

The court convicted him on April 5, following his guilty plea to a criminal charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The court, however, reserved the sentence until April 9 (today) but ordered that Bobrisky be remanded in custody of the EFCC pending the sentence.

However, the case could no longer proceed following the declaration of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as public holidays by the federal government to mark Sallah.

The court will communicate a new date to the parties.

On April 4, the EFCC filed six counts against the crossdresser bordering on naira mutilation and money laundering.

The convict was arraigned on April 5 before Justice Abimbola Awogboro.

He, however, pleaded guilty to the first four counts, as the court had earlier struck out the last two counts following an application by the EFCC.

The prosecution witness and an assistant superintendent of the EFCC, Bolaji Temitope, had given evidence and narrated the circumstances surrounding the prosecution of Bobrisky.

After the review of the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Suleiman Suleiman, urged the court to proceed and convict the crossdresser.

According to the charge, the convict committed the offence on March 24 at Circle Mall, Jakande, in the Lekki area of Lagos.

The agency said he tampered with the cumulative sum of N400,000 while dancing during a social event by spraying the same.

He was said to have sprayed various tranches of money between 2022 and 2023, such as N20,000 and N50,000, at various events.

Meanwhile, in the struck-out counts, the EFCC said that the defendant trading under the name and style of BobExpress between September 1, 2021 and April 4, 2021, also failed to submit a declaration of the activities of his company.

According to the EFCC, within the said period, the sum of N128 million was paid into the company’s account.

It added that within the same period, the defendant failed to submit a declaration to the unit where the sum of N53 million was paid.

The offences contravene the provisions of sections 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007 and 19 of the Money Laundering Act 2022.

(NAN)

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