The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday arraigned  one Funsho Babatunde Oladimeji before Justice Kudirat Jose of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja on a three count charge bordering on forgery and possession of fraudulent documents.

EFCC source had earlier told our Correspondent that, the suspect is a former banker. “He once worked in one of the banks, and was sacked for fraud.”

The accused person pleaded not guilty to all the charges preferred against him. In view of the plea of the defendant,  prosecuting counsel, M. K. Basiru,  prayed the court for a trial date and to remand the accused in prison custody.

Basiru opposed the defendant’s bail application on the ground that, he has no valid identity based on the fact that he has two international passports bearing different names.

Defence counsel, Gabriel Organ, while not denying the fact that the defendant has dual identity,  prayed the court to grant him bail on very liberal terms.

Justice Jose refused the application. She ruled that, though the offence is bailable, the fact that the defendant has two international passports, makes it difficult for the court to grant him bail as his prospects for jumping bail, were high.

She subsequently adjourned the case to May 16  and 23, 2014 for trial and ordered that, the defendant  be remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos.

Count one of the charge reads:  “Funsho Babatunde Oladimeji on or about the 3rd day of January ,2014 at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division with intent to defraud, knowingly forged Sixty Eight (68) Credit Cards purporting same to be Citi-Interswitch Mastercard”.

The 36- years old  was arrested on February 3rd, 2014 by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,  NDLEA,  at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos,  while trying to  board a Turkish airline.He was arrested in possession of Sixty Eight (68) Citibank Master cards and Thirty Nine (39) Citibank Visa cards;  all counterfeit.

He was thereafter transferred to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Khalil Ahmed Bappah, a self appointed agent to communications giant, Globacom has been arraigned before the Federal High Court sitting in Gombe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The accused was on Monday also docked before Justice Babatunde Quadri for offences bordering on obtaining by false pretence in relation to a petition by one Yusra Ali Babakusa, a female student of the Bayero University, Kano.

Yusra alleged that sometime in April 2012, she was approached  by Bappah, who posed as a GLO agent, promising he could help her become a GLO Ambassador through his contacts at Globacom. The accused subsequently obtained a total of N267, 000 (two hundred and sixty seven thousand naira) from her, ostensibly to facilitate the appointment.

Yusra stated that the accused person forwarded a code number to her with assurances that she would soon be called as one of the eventual winners and GLO ambassador and told her to prepare for an interview trip to GLO head office in Lagos.

To foreclose any suspicion, the accused told her the journey had been paid for by GLO (accommodation and return flight ticket). On the day earmarked for the journey, Bappah prompted her to wait for him, but stopped answering her calls after a while and eventually switched off his phone. It was then she realised, she had been conned.

When a four count charge was read to the accused, he pleaded not guilty. The offences are contrary to and punishable under Sections 1(2) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.