Nollywood filmmaker, Seun Egbegbe has finally regained his freedom after spending three years and six months in prison over fraud.
Seun Egbegbe Released From Prison Custody
KanyiDaily recalls that the filmmaker was remanded on February 10, 2017, after allegedly obtaining money by false pretense from no fewer than 40 Bureaus De Change operators in different parts of Lagos State.
Between 2015 and 2017, Egbegbe and his accomplice Oyekan Ayomide were accused of defrauding and swindling more than 30 Bureau De Change operators in different operations involving N39,098,100, $90,000, and £12, 550.
Egbegbe, who was the boss of Ebony Production, allegedly swindled the BDC operators out of money by claiming that he had naira to change into foreign currencies and vice versa.
The filmmaker and his accomplice were first arraigned before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on 36 counts bordering on advance fee fraud.
The duo were later joined by Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo on 49-count charge after the court document was amended twice.
However, on October 11, 2022, the Federal High Court in Lagos found Egbegbe guilty of just one of the 44 counts charges against him and set him free.
Justice Oguntoyinbo declared that 43 of the 44 count charges were quashed because of lack of witnesses to substantiate their claims.
She also decried that the prosecuting team failed in the responsibility to produce evidence, to be backed with witnesses on Counts 4, 19, and 21.
The judge also said that police tampered with the money recovered from the suspects. she also ruled that all the money recovered from Egbegbe as evidence should be returned to him.
This comes a few months after another court sentenced a Nollywood actor, Baba Ijesha, to 16 years imprisonment for sexually assaulting a minor.
