A Lagos Special Offences Court in Ikeja has remanded a Polaris Bank former manager, Abiodun Sanni, over alleged involvement in an N15 million fraud.
Abiodun was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 16 counts including forgery, use of false documents, obtaining credit under false pretences, and stealing.
Justice Abike-Fadipe remanded the financial expert was remandedon Monday after pleading not guilty to the charges brought before the court against him.
According to some of the charges, it is alleged that on or about February 24, 2020, in Lagos, Abiodun Sanni, while serving as the Bank Manager of the Iju branch of Polaris Bank Limited, obtained a loan of N17,000,000.00 for Bamgbose Tayo Taofia, who was trading under the name of Banut Haulage.
He allegedly did so by falsely claiming that the loan was backed by collateral in the form of a fixed deposit account (number withheld) worth N2,540,380.52, which belonged to Yinkus Multibiz Ventures and for which the owner, Aderibigbe Olayinka, had supposedly consented to the use of as collateral.
The defendant is also accused of dishonestly converting another fixed deposit account of Polaris Bank Limited (number withheld) worth N15,011,441.00, belonging to Atolagbe Joshua Tinuoye.
After the charges were read to the former bank manager in his preferred language, the defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The prosecutor, Adewunmi, requested that the court remand the defendant pending the trial date.
He said: “My Lord, we intend to call ten witnesses regarding this case, and we urge the court to remand the defendant in custody”.
In response, the defence counsel, Osho Oludoshu, filed a bail application requesting that the financial expert be allowed to attend court proceedings from his home.
Justice Abike-Fadipe ruled that the bail application should be submitted to the court before the trial date and adjourned the case, setting new dates for March 6 and March 19, 2025.
She stated, “I remand the defendant at the correctional centre, and he is entitled to submit a bail application before his trial date.”
