The Sallah holiday on Tuesday stalled judgement by a Federal High Court Lagos against the convicted socialite, Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, over naira abuse.
Bobrisky was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for naira abuse. The court had convicted the influencer on April 5, following a guilty plea to the criminal charge brought by the commission.
The court, however, reserved the sentence until April 9 (today) but ordered that Bobrisky be remanded in custody of the EFCC pending the sentence. However, the case could no longer proceed following the declaration of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as public holidays by the Federal Government to mark Sallah.
The court will communicate a new date to the parties involved.
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The EFCC had on April 4, filed six counts against the socialite bordering on naira mutilation and money laundering.
The convict was arraigned on April 5 before Justice Abimbola Awogboro. The socialite, however, pleaded guilty to the first four counts, as the court had earlier struck out the last two counts following an application by the EFCC.
Prosecution witness, Bolaji Temitope, an Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, had given evidence and narrated the circumstances surrounding the prosecution of Bobrisky.
After the review of the facts of the case, the prosecutor, Suleiman Suleiman, urged the court to proceed and convict the influencer. According to the charge, the convict committed the offence on March 24, at Circle Mall, Jakande in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The agency said the convict tampered with the cumulative sum of ₦400,000 while dancing during a social event, by spraying the same. The influencer was said to have sprayed various tranches of money between 2022 and 2023 such as ₦20,000 and ₦50,000 at various events.
Meanwhile, in the struck-out counts, the EFCC had said that the convict trading under the name and style of BobExpress between September 1, 2021 and April 4, also failed to submit a declaration of the activities of the company.
According to the EFCC, within the said period, the sum of ₦128 million was paid into the company’s account. It added that within the same period, the convict failed to submit a declaration to the unit where the sum of ₦53 million was paid.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the offences contravene the provisions of sections 21(1) Central Bank Act 2007, and 19 Money Laundering Act 2022.