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| The suspect |
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, Lagos Zonal office, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, arraigned one Omotayo Tapere before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State on a two-count charge bordering on possession of document containing false pretence and forgery.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Omotayo Tapere (aka Robert Fine), sometime in 2018 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession fraudulent email sent from [email protected], your email account to Fredrica Fox through her email,[email protected] titled “I am in love”, professing love to her, a representation you knew to be false.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, M.A. Bashir, asked for a trial date and prayed the court to remand the defendant in prison custody pending the determination of the case.
Counsel to the defendant, Oye Akanni, however, told the court that a bail application had been served on the prosecution.
He, therefore, urged the court to admit his client to bail in liberal terms.
In his response, the prosecution counsel, Bashir, urged the court to allow him to respond to the bail application, saying, โMy Lord, the prosecution is still within the time provided by Law to respond to the bail application filed by the defendant.โ
Justice Dada adjourned the case to April 17, 2019 for hearing of the bail application and commencement of trial.
The defendant was ordered to be remanded in prison custody.
