Kerosene dealer sentenced to 1 year imprisonment for issuing N4.4m dud cheque
The Edo State High Court has sentenced a kerosene dealer to jail for issuing a dude cheque to his customer.
Abraham Ologunja, according to the court, will serve one year in jail without an option of fine.
He was arraigned on a one- count charge bordering on issuance of a dud cheque. He was found guilty of the charge and convicted accordingly.
The court heard that sometime in August 2013, Ologunja deceitfully acquired N4.4 million worth of 33,000 litres of Kerosine from his customer, and issued a Keystone bank cheque dated 14 October, 2013, to him.
The customer was, however, unable to get the money due to insufficient funds in Ologunja’s account. All efforts by the customer to recover his money proved abortive.
Ologunja, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge when he was arraigned on 12 May, 2016, and the matter went into full trial.
The prosecuting counsel, J.N. Dogonyaro presented five witnesses and exhibits comprising the bounced cheque, as well as voluntary statements made by Ologunja, to establish a case against him.
Justice Ikponmwien, in his ruling, said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against Ologunja.
