A Lagos High Court has discharged and acquitted Michael Adenuga, a former accountant at Chevron, of allegations of fraud and forgery involving a property valued at N5bn.
Adenuga and his company, Covenant Apartments Complex Limited, were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2014 on a three-count charge bordering on fraudulent conversion of land, forgery, and use of false documents.
In the charge marked ID/494C/14, the EFCC accused the defendants of converting 22.687 hectares of land, allegedly acquired in partnership with Sunday and Joseph Oyeniran, located at Aiyetoro, Ikota, Lekki Peninsula, beside Victoria Garden City, between September 2011 and February 2014, for personal use.
The prosecution also alleged that Adenuga forged a contract of sale indicating that Covenant Apartments Complex Limited sold the said property to Kingview Realty, and subsequently submitted the document to the EFCC as genuine.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday after 11 years of trial, Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya ruled that the prosecution failed to establish the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge held that the EFCC did not provide sufficient evidence or documentation proving ownership of the land by any party other than the defendant.
“There were a lot of conjectures in the case of the prosecution. The prosecution failed to establish that the disputed document was made with fraudulent intent,” Justice Ogunsanya said.
“The court finds the defendant not guilty and hereby discharged and acquitted.”
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