Rita Odafe
Accused of embezzling N75m from a lotto company in Lagos State, a 31-year-old man, Babatunde Ishola, and his father, Bayo, have been detained at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre.
Charged with stealing and diverting funds, the defendants appeared in court at the Yaba Magistrates’ Court.
It is alleged that the duo transferred money from the company’s account to their personal accounts and those of their accomplices who remain unidentified.
According to a statement from the police prosecutor, Mike Enejere, Babatunde, the first defendant, operated as the account officer of the company involved in the diversion of funds between 2020 and 2023.
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The charges stated, “That you, Ishola Mubarak Babatunde, Ishola Rasheed Bayo, and others now at large, between 2020 and 2023, at Lotgrand Limited, a registered lotto company in Lagos, within the Magisterial District of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit stealing. You thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
“That you, Ishola Mubarak Babatunde and others now at large, on the same date, place and within the Magisterial District of the aforementioned, did steal the sum of seventy-five million naira (N75,000,000), property of Lotgrand Limited, Lagos, while you served as the account officer, as you dishonestly and fraudulently diverted the said sum belonging to Lotgrand Limited, a registered lotto company, to your personal account and that of your cohorts.”
“You hereby committed an offence punishable under Section 287 (8) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.”
The defendants remain in custody at the Kirikiri Correctional Centre until they can meet the bail requirements of N10m and provide two sureties with the same amount.
The Magistrate, Mojisola Salau, has scheduled the next hearing for September 3, 2024.
