An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court has remanded a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Mukaila Popoola, at the Kirikiri Prisons, Apapa, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding his client of N2.5m and faking Lagos State Government Treasury receipt.
Popoola was alleged to have on September 7, 2009, on the premises of the Federal High Court, Lagos, conspired with others to obtain N2.5m by false pretences after forging and uttering a false document.
His client, Mr. Suleiman Aniki, was said to have bought a piece of land, after which, he decided to resell the property to settle a person who deposited a particular amount of money for the land, but could no longer complete the amount agreed.
PUNCH METRO gathered that the depositor was not well disposed to the reselling of the land, which he wanted to buy and threatened to take Aniki to court.
As a result of the development, the 47-year-old lawyer persuaded his client (Aniki) that he would arrange for the settlement of the depositor in court.
Popoola allegedly collected money from his client, telling him that the court had ruled that the money be paid to the depositor in the court.
Based on that, Popoola now asked his client to make available N2.5m.
The lawyer went with his client to the court for the purported settlement and allegedly arranged a kangaroo court with fake registrars and clerks.
It was gathered that when they got to the court, Popoola asked his client to pay to the ‘registrar,’ saying he was the one mandated by the court to collect the money.
PUNCH METRO learnt that the ‘registrar,’ after collecting the money, allegedly issued a Lagos State treasury receipt.
The client was said to have gone home a happy man because he had been able to settle the other party.
But the bubble was said to have burst when the other party Aniki thought had been paid the money dragged him to court for failing to pay him.
Aniki got the true picture when he confronted his lawyer since they had paid the other party, but the lawyer started singing different tunes.
It was then it dawned on Aniki that his lawyer had allegedly swindled him in connivance with one 51-year-old Mahmood Kabir and others still on the run.
To get justice and his money back, Aniki reported the matter to the police and Popoola was arrested by the CP’s X-Squad 1, Ikeja, Lagos, which promptly arraigned the suspect (lawyer) at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
Popoola was arraigned on a seven-count charge of conspiracy, stealing, forgery, among others.
When the charge was read to Popoola and Kabir, they pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charge.
Lawyer to Popoola, Idowu Ojini, urged the court to grant the suspect bail on liberal terms and self-recognition as a lawyer.
The prosecutor, Mr. Roman Unuigbe, did not raise objection against the bail application on the grounds that it was a bailable offence, but objected to plea for liberal terms and self-recognition, saying that the offence was deliberately committed.
Unuigbe added that as a lawyer, the suspect knew the gravity of the offence he committed.
The Magistrate, Mrs. A.T. Omoyele, granted the suspects bail in the sum of N500,000 each, with two sureties.
She said that the sureties must be gainfully employed and their addresses (residential and offices) should be verified by the court.
She further remanded them in prison pending when they meet their bail conditions and adjourned the matter till March 30, 2011, for further hearing.
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