Nigerian faces P2m fraud charge
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday February 17, 2015 17:17
Chukwuma Ezekannagha, who has been charged with a single count of obtaining by false pretences, was yesterday denied bail by the High Court following an urgent application by his attorney.
Denying him bail, Justice Michael Mothobi said the application was not an urgent matter and would be dealt with on a normal basis. “The bail application is not an urgent matter and I found no reason to grant the accused bail at this stage,” he said.
The State alleged that on October 20 last year at an FNBB branch in Gaborone, Ezekannagha “with the intention to defraud,” obtained the sum of P2 million cash by falsely pretending that he had plots in Mogoditshane to use as security “when in fact and in truth the said plots were not rightfully allocated to him.”
Following the outcome of the bail application, Ezekannagha’s attorney, Paul Muzimo decided to withdraw the matter, saying his client was scheduled to appear at the Broadhurst Magistrate Court on Thursday and the High Court process could ruin his chances of successfully applying for bail.
Muzimo further said since the urgency of the application had been rejected, he would deal with the bail matter at the Magistrate Court level. Earlier on Muzimo had argued that the bail application was urgent as the liberty of the accused, who operates several businesses that could suffer from an extended period of detention. “My client is a family man and he is running three companies in the country that are his only source of income. He has no other source of income and if he is incarcerated for long, they may collapse,” he said.
Muzimo added that while his client was a foreigner, he did not own any property outside Botswana and furthermore, had all the valid documents that allowed him to stay in the country.
“His interests are in Botswana and he has been here for nine years during which he has never committed any offence,” he said.
Ezekannagha was arrested on February 5, 2014 by Directorate of Intelligence Services officers and is currently incarcerated at Maximum Prison awaiting trial at the Magistrate Court.