The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has re-arraigned one Andrew Warri before a Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, for allegedly defrauding a new generation bank of N125 million.
Warri was re-arraigned before Justice Olubusola Okunuga on a five-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining by false pretence and issuance of dud cheques.
The defendant, who was arraigned alongside two companies: A.M. Projects Consultancy Limited and Ranez Medical Consultancy Limited, pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
Following his plea, the prosecuting counsel, A. A. Usman, prayed the court for a trial date and to remand the defendant at a correctional facility, pending determination of the charge.
But the defendant’s counsel, A. M. Makinde (SAN), prayed the court for his client to continue with the earlier bail granted him by the previous judge, as he has not violated the earlier condition.
But the prosecution argued that since the matter was starting afresh, he should re-applied for bail, noting that the defendant is a flight risk.
In her ruling on bail application, Justice Okunuga agreed with the defendant’s counsel that his client should continue to enjoy the earlier bail granted him having not violated the conditions.
Earlier, the prosecution informed the court that the Commission had an amended charge against the defendant following the ruling on a “No case submission”, which discharges the defendant on count one and two.
Justice Sherifa Solebo delivered the ruling before she retired from the bench, and the case was subsequently transferred to Justice Okunuga for trial.
According to the ruling, Warri was discharged and acquitted of count one and two of the charge, while the court ordered the defendant to defend himself on count three to six.
One of the counts reads: “That you “Andrew Warri, A.M. Projects Consultancy Limited, sometime in May 2012 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Court, with intent to defraud, fraudulently obtained the sum of N125,000,000 from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc under the guise that the proceeds of the Rural Health Care and Referral contract with Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will be domiciled in your account with Guaranty Trust Bank. The said pretense you knew, or ought to have known is false.”
