Fake army general remanded over N266m fraud

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting at Ikeja on Monday remanded a suspected imposter, Abiodun Bolarinwa, in the Ikoyi Custodial Centre over fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in January 2022 arrested the defendant, who claimed to be a military general to access a N270m loan from a transportation company, Kodef Clearing Resources.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Bolarinwa allegedly told the company that President Muhammdu Buhari shortlisted him for appointment as the Chief of Army Staff and he needed a quick grant to process the appointment.

It was alleged that he forged a letter of appointment bearing the signature of the president.

Bolarinwa was charged with 13 counts.

The charges read in part, “Bolarinwa Abiodun between August 17, 2017 and December 12, 2018, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud and whilst holding yourself out as a general in the Nigerian Army, obtained a cumulative sum of N266,500,000 from Kodef Clearing Resources Limited, under the pretext that the sum represented part of the amount expended to ‘press and process’ your incoming appointment by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, as the Chief of Army Staff of the Nigerian Army, which pretence you knew to be false.”

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The EFCC counsel, Abbas Muhammed, urged the court to remand him.

But the defence counsel, Kayode Lawal, informed the court of an application for his bail.

However, the EFCC counsel said, “We were only recently served and will need more time.”

Lawal said the defendant had been in the commission’s custody since January 12, 2022, and came to the court from there.

He said, “We have made several attempts to make the defendant get administrative bail.

“We have also been told by the commission to bring a surety and we complied with their term, but to no avail.

“We will be praying the court for a short possible date because this is the only option for the defendant to salvage his fundamental and constitutional rights.”

Justice Taiwo adjourned the case till April 14, 2022, for further hearing.