Nollywood filmmaker and producer, Olajide Kareem, aka Seun Egbegbe, has been freed from prison after spending three years and six months in detention.
Seun Egbegbe who is an ex lover of Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham was remanded on February 10, 2017, after he allegedly obtained money by false pretence from no fewer than 40 bureau de change (BDC) operators in different parts of Lagos from 2015 to 2017.
Egbegbe, who is the boss of Ebony Production, allegedly swindled the BDC operators by claiming he had naira to change into foreign currencies and vice versa.
He had been arraigned by the police for a series of fraud involving N39,098,100, $90,000 and £12,550.
Egbegbe and one Oyekan Ayomide were first arraigned on February 10, 2017, before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, on 36 counts bordering on advance fee fraud.
The charge sheet was subsequently amended twice, with the counts eventually increased to 40 and three other defendants – Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo – added.
The prosecuting counsel for the police, Innocent Anyigor, said Egbegbe and the other defendants acted contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and were liable to be punished under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
However, the Federal High Court, Ikoyi after reviewing his case has found Egbegbe guilty of just one of the 44 Counts charges against him.
Egbegbe was set free on 11th October 2022.
Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo declared that 43 of the 44 Count charges were crumbled because of a lack of witnesses to substantiate their claims.
She also decried that the prosecuting team failed in the responsibility to produce evidence, to be backed with witnesses on Counts 4, 19 and 21.
Lamenting that police tampered with the money recovered from the suspects, Justice Oguntoyinbo also ruled that all the money recovered from Seun Egbegbe as evidence should be returned to him.
