N82.8m theft: Court adjourns arraignment of Cross Country chief

An Ikeja High Court on Thursday adjourned the
arraignment of a popular transporter, Bube
Okorodudu, over an N82.8 million theft, till Feb.12.
The arraignment, which was earlier fixed for Feb. 6,
was adjourned because it was not listed for hearing
by the court in its cause list.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
Okorodudu and his transport firm, Cross Country
Ltd., will be arraigned alongside another company,
Car Link Ltd.
The defendants would be arraigned before Justice
Lateef Lawal-Akapo, by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC).
They are facing a nine-count charge of conspiracy,
stealing, forgery and uttering.
The EFCC counsel, Mr Francis Usani, alleged that
the defendants conspired among themselves to
commit the offences between February and August,
2009.
Usani said they stole the money through the
fraudulent sale of 17 units of Volkswagen
transporter buses belonging to AG Moeller Ltd.
According to him, the buses are fraudulently sold to
GMT Nigeria Ltd; Multichoice Nigeria Ltd; and Law
Union and Rock/TFS Finance Ltd.
He also accused the defendants of forging a
document entitled: “Nigeria Customs Service Motor
Vehicle Duty Certificate,” to facilitate the alleged
stealing.
The prosecutor said the offences contravened
Sections 390, 467 and 468 of the Criminal Code,
Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.
NAN recalls that the offence of stealing attracts
between seven and 20 years imprisonment, if an
accused is found guilty. (NAN)