Crimes

Actress remanded for spraying, stepping on new naira notes in Lagos

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, arraigned an actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, before the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a two-count charge bordering on tampering with the redesigned naira notes.

The actress was arraigned before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke.

One of the counts read: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28th day of January, 2023, at Monarch Event Centre Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion, tampered with the sum of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same on the said occasion; and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.

The second count read: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28th day of January, 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion, tampered with the sum of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by dancing on same on the said occasion; and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

She, however, pleaded “not guilty” to the offence.

Following her plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I Sulaiman, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility.

Counsel to the defendant, Adenike Goncalves, prayed the court to admit the defendant to bail, pending the hearing and determination of the case.

The defence counsel also prayed that her client be remanded in the EFCC custody, pending the perfection of the bail terms if granted by the court.

While submitting that bail was at the discretion of the court, the prosecution counsel prayed that in the event bail was granted, the conditions of the bail term should be such that would enable the defendant to be present during the trial.

Justice Aneke, therefore, deferred ruling on the bail application to Wednesday, February 15, 2023 and remanded the defendant in Kirikiri correctional facility.

Omoseyin was arrested by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Fraud Related Offences Commission (ICPC), on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and was handed over to the EFCC for investigation.

The 31-year-old actress was arrested after the video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned naira notes at a party surfaced online.

In the viral video, she was also seen flaunting wads of the new naira notes.

In her statement to the EFCC, she claimed that she received the new naira notes from her fans at the party, adding that she did not know the persons who gave her the money.

Items recovered from her included a Range Rover and iPhone mobile devices.

The Star