The Police on Tuesday arraigned a 38-year-old man, Babafemi Ogundele, before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court, Ibadan, over an alleged N15 million fraud.
The defendant, whose house address was not disclosed, is being tried on charges bordering on obtaining by false pretence, stealing, threat to life and impersonation.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Akeem Akinloye, told the court that the defendant had, sometime in June, defrauded the complainant, one Jacob Joshua, of $10,000 (about N15 million).
Akinloye said that the complainant had paid the defendant the amount to facilitate his (complainant’s) proof of funds to enable him travel to the United States of America.
He said that the defendant fraudulently converted the money to his own use and squandered it on gambling.
The prosecutor said that the defendant presented himself as a medical doctor to the complainant, with the intent to defraud him.
He also said that the defendant, thereafter, threatened the complainant’s life when he demanded for a refund of his money.
According to him, the offences contravene Sections 86(1), 383, 419 and 484 of the Criminal Code Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Olabisi Ogunkanmi, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N7.5 million, with two sureties in like sum.
Ogunkanmi said one of the sureties must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction while the second must be the defendant’s blood relation.
She, thereafter, adjourned the matter till May 8, 2025.