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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Nollywood producer and socialite, Olajide Kareem, popularly known as Seun Egbegbe, has regained his freedom after three years and six months in prison.
The movie producer was remanded on February 10, 2017, after allgedly obtaining money under false pretence from no fewer than 40 Bureaus De Change (BDC) operators in different parts of Lagos State.
He was accused of swindling the BDC operators by claiming that he had naira to change into foreign currencies and vice versa.
Egbegbe was said to have fraudulently obtained N39 million, $90,000, and £12,550 from the BDC operators between 2015 and March 2017.
Egbegbe, who is the owner of Ebony Production, was arraigned alongside one Oyekan Ayomide on February 10, 2017, before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, on 36 counts bordering on advance fee fraud.
The duo were later joined by Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo on 49 counts.
However, on Tuesday, October 11,2022, Justice Oguntoyinbo found Egbegbe guilty of just one of the 44 charges preferred against him and set the film maker free.
The judge held that 43 of the 44 charges were crumbled because of lack of witnesses to substantiate the claims of the prosecution.
She also lamented the failute of prosecution to produce evidence to back the claims of wthe witnesses on Counts 4, 19 and 21.
Justice Oguntoyinbo added that police tampered with the money recovered from the suspects, and ordered that all the money recovered from Egbegbe as evidence should be returned to him.