A woman identified as Ajanaku Oluwatomilola has been convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment for a ₦14.5 million fraud.
Oluwatomilola was sentenced by Justice O.A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on Thursday, May 15, 2025.
According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the convict was re-arraigned by its Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 on April 14, 2024, on a six-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining money and property by false pretence, and retention to the tune of ₦14.5 million.
EFCC stated that in 2021, the defendant received the sum of ₦14.5 million from some petitioners as investment capital, with an agreement that the return on investment would run for three months.
However, the defendant failed to fulfill the agreement, stopping payment of the return on investment after two months.
“Investigation revealed that the defendant did not have a licence to conduct capital market operations or call for investments from the members of the public,” the Commission noted.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Ajanaku Oluwatomilola, trading under the name and style of Yenniegoldie Signature, sometime in 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, stole and dishonestly converted to your own, the sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira), property of one Truetalk Telecom Services, thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charge preferred against her, thereby leading to her trial.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, F. Ofoma, called four witnesses, including Christopher Ameh, an investigative officer with the EFCC, and the petitioners.
The defence counsel, O. Ajanaku, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that “the convict is a first-time offender and he is remorseful.”
Ajanaku also assured the court that restitution would be paid to the nominal petitioners.
In his verdict, Justice Okunuga found the defendant guilty on three counts of stealing and sentenced her to one year imprisonment on each of the counts.
She was discharged of the counts of obtaining money and property by false pretence and retention.
The judge also ordered her to make restitution to the petitioners in the sum of of ₦6 million.
