Court slams N3.5m bail on alleged fake estate agent for fraud

A Surulere Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday  granted bail in the sum of  N3.5 million to an alleged fake estate agent, Sodiq Tajudeen.

Tajudeen, 53, was alleged to have defrauded six accommodation seekers of a total of N6. 6 million.

The Magistrate, Sadiq Bello, who granted bail to Tajudeen after he pleaded not guilty, ordered him to produce two sureties in like sum.

Bello said that one of the sureties must be a relative of the defendant.

She adjourned the case until Dec. 2 for mention.

Tajudeen, a resident of No. 27, Akinkunmi St., Itire, Surulere, Lagos, is being tried for  obtaining money by false pretences and stealing.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Courage Ekhueorohan, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on July 13, at No. 29, Akinkumi Street, Itire, Surulere.

Ekhueorohan alleged that Tajudeen, who was supervising a building  under construction, deceived six accommodation seekers into believing that he was an estate agent.

“Tajudeen, between June and Sept. 30, fraudulently obtained the sum of N6.6 million from six accommodation seekers,” he said.

The prosecutor said that Tajudeen was arrested when the owner of the house he was supervising discovered that all the flats in the house had been rented out.

According to Ekhueorohan, the offences contravene Sections 287 (1) and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Section 287 prescribes three years’ jail term for stealing, while Section  314 provides for 15 years’ imprisonment for obtaining by false pretences.