A 27-year-old accountant, Oke Peter, was on Friday brought before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing N4.5 million belonging to his employer.
Peter, whose residential address was not provided, was accused of diverting funds while working at Mega Mart Mall Ltd in the Mowo area of Badagry. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing.
Police prosecutor, ASP Edet Ekpo, told the court that the incident occurred on September 5 at about 10 a.m. He alleged that the defendant “defrauded the company of N4.5 million from the sales capital under his supervision, which was the property of the complainant, Mr. David Uniugbe.”
Ekpo said Uniugbe reported the matter to the police, leading to Peter’s arrest. He further explained that the alleged offence was contrary to Section 287 (7) of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015, which prescribes up to one year in prison for stealing from an employer.
Chief Magistrate Nurudeen Layeni granted the defendant bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in like sum. He ordered that one of the sureties must be a community leader and must deposit N50,000 into the Chief Registrar’s account as part of the bail conditions.
The case has been adjourned until October 10 for mention.
