A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, in Lagos state, have upheld the conviction and 12-year prison sentence of businessman Kolawole Adedayo Erinl
A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal, in Lagos state, have upheld the conviction and 12-year prison sentence of businessman Kolawole Adedayo Erinle for a $1.4 million fraud on Thursday, December 19.
This was revealed via a statement by the lead judge, Justice Danlami Zama Senchi, on Tuesday, December 24.
He noted that Erinle and his company, Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited, were initially arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, March 11, 2022.
Despite pleading not guilty, the trial could not be completed before Justice Taiwo’s retirement, leading to the reassignment of the case to Justice Oshodi.
He was later re-arraigned before Justice Oshodi on Friday, October 28, 2022, on a three-count charge involving conspiracy, retention of proceeds from criminal activity, and obtaining money under false pretenses amounting to $1,410,000.
One of the charges read, “Kolawole Adedayo Erinle and Edward Dada (still at large), sometime in 2019 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired to falsely represent yourselves as J.E. Dunn, a local construction company in America, with intent to gain monetary advantage in the sum of $1,410,000 (One Million Four-Hundred and Ten Thousand United States Dollars) by creating a fake domain name jedunn.org and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No 14, 2006.”
He once again pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, T.J. Banjo, called four witnesses, who presented various documentary evidence to support the case against him and his company.
The prosecution also introduced evidence showing that Erinle had been convicted of fraud in the United States of America.
Justice Oshodi revoked the bail previously granted to the defendant, on Friday, February 10, 2023,following an application by the prosecution, which revealed that he had failed to meet the bail conditions set by Justice Taiwo.
After the prosecution closed its case, Erinle took the stand to defend himself.
With his counsel, Lawal Pedro, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), leading his evidence, Erinle denied the allegations made against him by the prosecution.
However, during cross-examination, he admitted to being a former convict in the United States (US), having served 23 months in prison.
He also expressed remorse and a willingness to compensate his victim, stating, ‘I am sorry.’
Justice Oshodi delivered the judgment on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, declaring both the defendant and his company guilty as charged.
The Judge also ruled that the prosecution had proven its case against the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.
As a result, Justice Oshodi sentenced Erinle to five years for count two and 12 years for count three, with the sentences to run concurrently from Friday, February 10, 2023, when he was remanded in custody.
Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited, the company, was fined N50 million and ordered to be dissolved by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), with the proceeds forfeited to the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria.
The convicts were also directed to make restitution to the victim.
All property and vehicles recovered from them by the Economic and Financial Crimes and Commission (EFCC) were to be sold and the proceeds used for restitution to the victim through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Dissatisfied with the trial court’s judgment, Erinle, through his counsel, appealed the decision in the appellate court.
However, EFCC counsel T.J. Banjo urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, arguing that it lacked merit and to uphold the ruling of the trial court.
In a lead judgment delivered by Justice Danlami Zama Senchi, the three-man panel of Justices unanimously agreed with the EFCC’s position, ruling that the appeal lacked merit and affirming the judgment of the trial court.
