Court Remands Bizman Over N50m Forgery

An Abuja Chief Magistrates’ Court has ordered that an accused, Lawrence Babalola, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lawjane Oil and Gas Ltd., be remanded in prison custody over alleged N50 million forgery.

Police Prosecutor, Lough Simon, had told the court that the crime was reported by Mr Adekunle Akinpelu, of Association Avenue, Ilupeju, Lagos State, on April 15, 2011.

Simon said that the complainant alleged that the accused approached him with a contract document which was later discovered to be forged.

He said that the forged document was allegedly awarded by NNPC for the sale of two million barrels of Bonny Light Crude oil.

Simon added that the accused approached the complainant to source for a loan of N50 million in order to execute the contract.

He further said that based on the deceit, N50 million was paid into the account of the accused which he fraudulently withdrew without executing the said contract.

According to the prosecutor, the offence of criminal breach of trust, cheating and forgery contravened Sections 312, 322 and 364 of the Penal Code.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge while his counsel, Mr J.G Itodo, made an oral application for his client’s bail which was refused by the Chief Magistrate, Oyebola Oyewumi.

Oyewumi urged the counsel to make a formal application before the accused could be granted bail.

She ordered the accused to be remanded in prison, and adjourned the case to April 18 and April 19 for hearing.