Judge remands businessman for allegedly issuing N60m dud cheques

Justice Mojisola Dada of an Ikeja Special Offences Court in Lagos State has ordered the remand of a businessman, Kassim Adeleke, at the Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre.

The judge gave the order to remand the suspect charged with allegedly issuing N60 million worth of dud cheques.

“The defendant shall be remanded in the Correctional Facility pending hearing of his bail application,” the judge said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Dada gave the order shortly after Adeleke was arraigned alongside his company, Liquid Waves Energy Limited, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty to a seven-count charge of issuance of dud cheques and stealing.

Following Adeleke’s arraignment, the EFCC’s counsel, Shamsudeen Saka, asked the court to remand the defendant.

The defence counsel, Adetokunbo Davies, however, asked the court to grant the defendant bail. noting that the offences the defendant was charged with were not capital offences.

He noted that the businessman had voluntarily gone to the EFCC office on December 7, 2022 when he was invited by officials of the anti-graft agency.

Saka, in his response, said that he needed to file reply to the defendant’s bail application.

Davies, thereafter, urged the court to remand his client in EFCC custody and not the Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his bail application.

The judge, however, did not oblige the request of the defence counsel.

According to the EFCC, the defendant committed the offence between January 2021 and April 2021 in Lagos.

The businessman allegedly took a N60 million loan from CFS Financial Services Limited in favour of his company, Liquid Waves Energy Limited.

In a bid to repay the loan, he allegedly issued six dud cheques of N10 million each.

Saka said: “The defendant had insufficient funds in his Polaris Bank account – 1771786381.

“He had issued the cheques in favour of the creditor, CFS Financial Services, for repayment of the loan granted to his company.

“The cheques when presented at the bank for payment were returned unpaid.”

The offences contravene Section 1 (1) of the Dishonoured Cheques (Offences) 2004 and Sections 278(1), (2) and 285 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The case was adjourned until February 14 for the hearing of the bail application.