The owner of Victoria East Park Hotel and Suite, Igbogbo, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, Fredrick Ebiesuwa, and his wife, Tinuola Oyegunle, have been sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment over a fraud of N53,713,260.
Punch
learnt that the
couple and other suspects at large defrauded one Dunni Olateru-Olagbegi of the
said sum under the guise of helping her to avert mysterious death.
It
was gathered that the victim, sometime in May 2013, boarded a cab with the
fraudsters and upon entering the cab, the gang started arguing about a bag
filled with dollars.
Punch
correspondent learnt that minutes after the syndicate argued about the bag, one
of them told the victim that she would have to undergo cleansing to avert
mysterious death after listening to their conversation.
According
to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the victim was taken to an
unknown location, where she gave the couple and other members of the syndicate
various sums in cash and bank payment, amounting to N53,713,260 for the
spiritual exercise.
The
EFCC, in a statement on Monday, said it was discovered that over N9m was paid
into Oyegunle’s account, while other funds were traced to her husband’s
account, adding that the proceeds of the crime were used to build a hotel.
The
couple were arraigned on four counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false
pretences.
They
pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Delivering
judgment on Monday, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court in
Ibadan, sentenced them to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, adding that the
sentence, which would start from the day of their arrest, would run
concurrently.
The
judge also ordered that the hotel be sold and the proceeds, if not up to
N53,713,260, be returned to the victim and if it exceeded, the balance be paid
into the Federal Government’s account.
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