Justice O.A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, on Tuesday, November 22, 2022, convicted and sentenced one Tope Peter Obi to one year imprisonment for possession of fraudulent documents.
The convict was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering
on possession of fraudulent documents, an offence contrary to Section 318 of
the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
The count reads: “That you, Tope Peter Obi, sometime on the
8th day of July, 2022 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable
Court, had in your possession documents wherein you fraudulently represented
yourself as Chris Lane, an American to one Hewitt, a representation of which
from the circumstance of this case you knew or reasonably ought to know to be
false."
He pleaded "guilty" to the one-count charge.
In view of his plea, the prosecuting counsel, G.C. Akaogu,
gave a review of the facts, detailing how intelligence reports had linked the
defendant to the alleged crime, upon which he was arrested and subjected to
further investigation.
The statements of the defendant and the items recovered from
him were also tendered in evidence by the prosecution.
Following the guilty plea of the defendant and the evidence
presented before the court, the trial Judge found him guilty as charged.
The defence counsel, Bisola Oshundunmade, pleaded with the
court to temper justice with mercy.
After reviewing all the evidence and submissions of both
parties, Justice Okunuga sentenced the defendant to one-year imprisonment, with
an option of fine of N500,000.
Items recovered from him, including iPhone X, were ordered
forfeited to the Federal Government.
The defendant was also ordered to sign an undertaking with the EFCC to be of good behaviour and never to engage in any form of economic and financial crimes within and outside the shores of Nigeria.