Segun Kasali
A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the remand of an actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, in Kirikiri pending the determination of her bail application, for tampering with the Naira notes.
On Monday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Omoseyin before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on a two-count charge brought against her.
One of the counts reads, that you Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin on the 28th day of January 2023 at Monarch event centre, Lekki within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
The second reads, that you Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin on the 28th day of January 2023 at Monarch event centre, Lekki within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social occasion tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by dancing on same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
She pleaded not guilty to the offence.
Given her plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I Sulaiman asked the court for a trial date and prayed that the defendant is remanded in the appropriate correctional facility.
Responding, counsel to the defendant, Adenike Goncalves prayed the court to admit the defendant to bail pending the hearing and determination of the case.
She also prayed that her client is remanded in EFCC custody pending the perfection of the bail terms if so granted by the court.
While Sulaiman submitted that bail is at the discretion of the court, he prayed that in the event bail is granted, the conditions of the bail term should be such that would enable the defendant to be present during the trial.
Justice Aneke deferred the ruling on the bail application to Wednesday, February 15, 2023, and remanded the defendant in Kirikiri correctional facility.
It would be recalled that omoseyin was arrested by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Fraud Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and was handed over to the EFCC for investigation.
The 31-year-old was arrested after the video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned Naira notes at a party surfaced online.
In the viral video, she was also seen flaunting wads of the new Naira notes.
In her statement to the Commission, she claimed that she received the new Naira notes from her fans at the party and that she did not know the persons who gave her the money.
Items recovered from her at the point of arrest include a Range Rover and iPhone mobile devices.
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