By Admin
A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a former staff member of Sterling Bank, Sulaimon Olayiwola Gbajabiamila, to 20 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in a ₦31 million property fraud.
Justice I.O. Ijelu delivered the judgment on Monday, two years after Gbajabiamila was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He was convicted on a seven-count charge bordering on stealing, obtaining by false pretence, forgery, using false documents, and retention of proceeds of crime.
According to the EFCC, Gbajabiamila defrauded one Lateef Ayo Adeyemo of ₦31 million under the pretext of securing a two-bedroom apartment at Lagos Homes, Iponri. Investigations later revealed that he diverted the funds for personal use.
One of the charges read in court stated that Gbajabiamila, “sometime in 2021 in Lagos, with dishonest intent, stole and converted to his own use the sum of ₦31,000,000 property of Lateef Ayo Adeyemo.”
Another charge alleged that he forged a Sterling Bank Manager’s cheque valued at ₦10 million in favour of STB Building Society Limited.
Despite pleading not guilty, the prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid Tukur, called two witnesses and tendered documents which the court admitted in evidence against him.
In his plea for leniency, defence counsel, T.E. Gbado, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, noting that his client was a first-time offender.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ijelu sentenced Gbajabiamila to five years’ imprisonment on count one (stealing), with an option of a ₦1 million fine. He also bagged seven years on count two (obtaining by false pretence) and two years each on counts three, four and five (forgery), all with an option of a ₦1 million fine per count.
On count six (using false documents), the court imposed a two-year sentence with an option of ₦200,000 fine, while on count seven (retention of proceeds of crime), he was sentenced to four years with an option of ₦500,000 fine.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
