Notorious Nollywood producer, Seun Egbegbe and partner, Oyekan Ayomide, were yesterday rearraigned before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
Seun and co was charged with allegations ranging on frauds between 2016 and 2017 were first arraigned before the court on February 10, 2017, for defrauding the BDC Operators of the sum of N39, 098, 100: $90,000; and £12,550.
Egbegbe and Ayomide had, pleaded not guilty and Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo had on February 24 granted each of them a bail of N5m, with two sureties.
At the resumed hearing in the matter, yesterday, the prosecutor, Mr. Innocent Anyigor, of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Panti-Yaba, informed the court that the charge sheet had been amended and the counts increased from 36 to 40. He urged the court to allow the amended charges to be read to the accused for the purpose of re-taking their plea. The judge granted the prayer and Egbegbe and Ayomide were re-arraigned and pleaded not guilty.
Following the re-arraignment, the defence counsel, Mrs. A. Gbadamosi, urged the judge to vary the bail conditions granted Ayomide because he was only involved in three out of the 40 counts. In response, the judge, Justice Oguntoyinbo, said the prayer would be considered later. The prosecutor told the court that it has 30 witnesses in court and ready for commencement of trial. The defence counsel also said she was ready for trial.
But the judge noted that the prosecution witnesses in court were the victims, who the defendants allegedly defrauded and not the investigating officers who investigated the case. She said that she preferred the IPOs to testify first before the BDC operators, on the grounds that the IPOs could be transferred out of Lagos anytime.
“I prefer that anybody in the police that will give evidence in this matter should testify first. They might be transferred and I don’t want to be running after anybody. That’s why I’m not going to start with them (BDC operators) now. I want to take the police first,” the judge said.
She, therefore, adjourned till March 24, 2017 for commencement of trial.