Husband, Wife Jailed 16 Years For Defrauding Justice Oguntade of N20m

BY PAUL IYOGHOJIE

An Igbosere Magistrate’s Court sitting at the Tinubu Magistrate’s Court, Lagos Island, Lagos have sentenced and convicted a couple, Clement and Adetoun Mimiko to eight years each totaling 16 years for defrauding retired Justice George. A Oguntade of the sum of N20 million by false pretence.

The couple, according to the Police, collected the money from the retired Judge with a pretext of selling 150 acres of land to him at Italiwo Village, Osun Road, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, Nigeria but that the convicts knowing full well that there was no land for sale, failed to provide the land for the complainant and also failed to refund the money back to him.

The convicts were sentenced by Chief Magistrate Mrs S.A Gbajumo Ayoku after she found the convicts guilty during the trial spanning about five years in the three-count charges bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence and stealing preferred against them by the Police at the Maroko Division, Lekki, Lagos.

Magistrate Ayoku sentenced Adetoun Clement to eighyt years and Mimiko Clement to eight years imprisonment respectively which she directed would run concurrently.

The Magistrate however gave the convicts the option to make restitution of the N20 million they fraudulently obtained from the complainant back to him and serve only six months imprisonment or serve the eight years each imprisonment and still pay back the N20 million to the complainant.

Police prosecuting Counsel, Inspector Hafsat Ajibode had told the Court in the charge marked M/15/2021 that the journey to jail started for the convicts between 2016 and 2019 when they approached the complainant and told him that they have a 150 acres of land to sell for him at Ijebu Igbo area of Ogun State.

The complainant believed the couple and released the money to them for the land unknown to him that the couple were fraudulent characters.

Ajibode further told the Court that the couple show their true colours later when the complainant sent workers to the land to start development, but scores of hoodlums chased the workers away and told them that the land they were working was not for sale and warned them not to step on the land again.

She said that following the ugly development, the complainant reported the matter to the Police who swiftly arrested the convicts.

Ajibode said the offences, the convicts committed were punishable under sections 411,314 and 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

She said the convicts pleaded not guilty to the charges during arraignment and were granted bail and later found guilty as charge by the Court and accordingly sentenced and convicted.