By Sandra Umeh
The Sallah holiday on Tuesday stalled judgment by a Federal High Court Lagos against convicted cross dresser, 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 him on April 5, following his guilty plea to a criminal charge brought against him by the commission.
The court, however, reserved 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.
The EFCC had on April 4, filed six counts against the cross dresser bordering on naira mutilation and money laundering.
The convict was arraigned on April 5 before Justice Abimbola Awogboro.
He, 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, Mr 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, Mr Suleiman Suleiman, urged the court to proceed and convict the cross dresser.
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 he tampered with the cumulative sum of N400,000 while dancing during a social event, by spraying the same.
He was said to have sprayed various tranches of money between 2022 and 2023 such as N20,000 and N50,000 at various events.
Meanwhile, in the struck out counts, the EFCC had said that the defendant trading under the name and style of BobExpress between Sept. 1, 2021 and April 4, also failed to submit a declaration of the activities of his company.
According to the EFCC, within the said period, the sum of N128 million was paid into the company’s account.
It added that within the same period the defendant failed to submit a declaration to the unit where the sum of N53 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. (NAN)
