Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of a Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, 17 August 2022, adjourned till 24 August 2022 for ruling on an application seeking a stay of proceedings filed by Stanley Okafor, who is facing trial over an alleged One Hundred and Eleven Million, Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($111,500,000) fraud.
Okafor, alongside his company, Larbrador Shipping Services Limited, is being prosecuted on an amended nine-count charge bordering on an attempt to obtain money by false pretence, forgery and possession of documents containing false pretence.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) accused the defendant of committing the alleged offences which were said to be contrary to sections 8 (b) and 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006; Section 361 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011, and Section 6, 8 (b) and 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Act, 2006.
One of the amended counts reads: “That you, Okafor Stanley, and Labrador Shipping Services Limited., sometime between November 2019 and January 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did attempt to obtain the sum of Twenty-Two Million Dollars ($22,000,000) from Zenith Bank Plc by falsely representing that Citi Bank was in receipt of the said sum.”
Another count reads: “That you, Okafor Stanley, and Labrador Shipping Services Limited sometime between November 2019 and January 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did attempt to obtain a cumulative sum of Eighty-Nine Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars from Zenith Bank Plc by falsely representing that Citi Bank was already in receipt of the said sum.”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the amended charges.
The prosecuting counsel, E.E. Iheanacho, after calling four witnesses and tendering several documentary evidence against the defendants, closed the case of the prosecution on 4th March 2022.
However, the defendant, rather than open his defence, filed a no-case submission, which the court dismissed, and ordered him to open his defence.
Justice Taiwo had, on 8th June 2022, dismissed his no-case submission and ordered him to open his defence.
At yesterday’s proceedings, rather than open his defence, the defendant, through his new counsel, Pius Ofulue, moved his application for a stay of proceedings before Justice Taiwo, pending the Court of Appeal’s ruling of their appeal challenging the court’s dismissal of the no-case submission.
Responding, EFCC counsel, M.K. Hussain, who held the brief of Iheanacho, cited several authorities, and urged the court to dismiss the application as lacking in merit, and instead, “order accelerated hearing”.
The case has been adjourned till 24 August 2022 for ruling.