Security & Crime
EFCC brings businessman to court over N8.5m fraudulent cheque
On Wednesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought charges against businessman Michael Chibuzo and his company, Two Stars Enterprise Ltd., at the Kaduna High Court.
The charges were related to the alleged issuance of a N8.5 million dud cheque and fraud. The EFCC Counsel, Nasiru Salele, informed the court that the defendant committed these offenses on January 2.
According to Salele, Chibuzo, who served as the Managing Director of Two Star Enterprise Ltd., had borrowed N8.5 million from the complainant, Rita David.
In order to repay the loan, Chibuzo issued a post-dated GT Bank cheque to David, which was supposed to be cashed after two months.
However, when the cheque was presented at the bank, it was dishonored. Despite the complainant’s efforts to retrieve her money, she was unsuccessful.
Salele stated that these actions violated the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006. Chibuzo pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The defense counselor, Gabriel Ede, applied for bail on behalf of his client, assuring the court that Chibuzo would not flee and would comply with all bail conditions.
Surprisingly, the prosecution did not oppose the bail application. Consequently, Judge Justice M. Tukur granted the defendant bail in the sum of N2 million, with two sureties required to provide the same amount.
One of the sureties must be a blood relative of Chibuzo, while the other must possess a landed property in Kaduna with genuine land documents. Additionally, both sureties must reside within the jurisdiction of the court. The case was adjourned until April 30 for a hearing.