From Bamigbola Gbolagunte
Two members of staff of a first generation bank, Kehinde David Oludare and Awolola Olalekan Ayodeji, have been dragged before the Osun State High Court in Ila-Orangun, for allegedly falsifying an account belonging to an immigration officer, Mr Badiru Adeyemi Oluwafemi.
The duo of Kehinde and Awolola, who were attached to the Inisha branch of the bank, were said to be the Business Manager and Account Officer of Badiru, respectively, as of the time the alleged crime was committed in 2015.
The matter, which has suffered a series of long adjournments, had earlier been tried at the Okuku division of the court by four different judges before it was transferred to Justice G. Lawal of Ila-Orangun division.
When the case was mentioned on Tuesday, the two defendants were absent in court, but their counsel, Mr Olamide Olabode, told the court that Awolola Olalekan traveled to Imo State, hence his inability to appear before the court.
The state Counsel, Mr Biodun Badiora, expressed worry on the delay suffered by the case and urged the court to expedite actions on the matter. The trial judge, Justice Lawal, also observed that the case file was not well kept as it looked dirty, an indication that the case had started a long time ago.
The defendants were, in 2015, charged on a five count charge of stealing, keeping of fraudulent accounts, falsifying books of account and fraudulent false accounting. The offences were said to be contrary to Sections 435 (B), 438 (B) and 390 (9) of the criminal code law, Cap 3 laws of Osun State 2002.
Badiru told the court that the two suspects had paid the sum of N1 million into his account without soliciting for it, accusing the two bank officials of planning to defraud him through their action.
He said: “The two suspects, with intent to defraud me, made or were privy to making false entry into my account when, without authority, created a loan account number 3896210013660, in the name of Badiru Adeyemi Oluwafemi, purporting to show that I took the loan on the said account.”
The court adjourned the matter till September 21, 2023 for arraignment and hearing.