The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has concluded its case against Mark Obisesan, Olumide Mcintouch, Bolaji Bakare, and Goodluck Bazunu, who are facing charges related to the alleged purchase of forged United States dollar Travellers Cheques.
EFCC, in a statement, said it has presented two more witnesses, including a Foreign Service National Investigator with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and one other witness while closing its case against the defendants.
The defendants were re-arraigned on Thursday, February 16, 2023, before Justice I.O. Ijelu on amended 11-count charges related to an alleged purchase of forged bank notes.
Among the charges, one count accuses the four defendants, along with Josiah Ntekume (at large), of receiving and possessing forged United States dollar Travellers Cheque number GA908-981-564 in Lagos in 2018.
“Mark Obisesan, Olumide Mcintouch, Bolaji Bakare, Goodluck Bazunu, and Josiah Ntekume (at large), sometime in 2018 at Lagos, within the Ikeja Judicial Division, conspired to purchase, receive and have in your possession forged United States travellers cheques,” another count reads.
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the prosecution, led by counsel N.K. Ukoha presented two additional witnesses in the case. The second prosecution witness, Ayotunde Solademi, a Foreign Service National Investigator with the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), detailed the FBI’s role in the investigation.
Solademi testified that on January 6, 2020, the EFCC sought assistance from the FBI to verify the authenticity of eleven Travellers’ Cheques. The FBI, in response, confirmed that all eleven cheques were not genuine and provided information on features distinguishing genuine American Express Traveler’s Cheques.
According to him, the team assigned to the task immediately swung into action and a letter was written to the American Express Traveller’s Cheque Authentication Centre, including the attached copies of the cheques in question sent by the EFCC. He stated that the Centre confirmed that all the eleven cheques were not genuine.
“They also sent us features to look out for in a genuine American Express Traveller’s Cheque. All these were packaged in a letter and the response was sent back to the EFCC in January 2020,” he said. He thereafter identified exhibits P2 and P3, which were already before the court, as the letter of investigation activities from the EFCC and the response of the FBI to the same.
Under cross-examination by the counsel for the first defendant, Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, he noted that he was not a forensic analyst and what they did with the request of the EFCC was to forward the same to American Express Traveller’s Cheque Authentication Centre and the reply was subsequently forwarded to the EFCC.
Also, Solademi, under cross-examination by counsel for the second, third and fourth defendants, Bilikisu Afe, N.T. Adebago and Ndubuisi Oraenyen, respectively, maintained that it was the American Express Traveller’s Cheque Authentication Centre that analysed the said cheques and forwarded the response to the EFCC, as requested.
Testifying as the third prosecution counsel, PW3, Mairiga, told the court about the forensic analysis carried out on the said documents. He stated that the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC, in 2020, sent a request for forensic analysis of ten American Express Traveller’s cheques and one Mastercard $100 Cheque.
According to him, “They were analysed for security features and the ten were found to be counterfeits and only the MasterCard $100 Traveller’s Cheque was genuine,” he said. He, thereafter, identified the letter of request from the Lagos Zonal Command of the EFCC, which was already before the court, as Exhibit P1, as well as the response from the Forensic Laboratory to the request dated 7th February 2020. He maintained that there was a universal process of forensically analysing documents.
Thereafter, Ukoha informed the court that the prosecution was closing its case. “This is the case of the prosecution,” he said.
Justice Ijelu adjourned the case until Thursday, January 18, 2024.
