How Don Duped Me $48,500 Over Eatery - Victim

SAN FRANCISCO, July 17, (THEWILL) – A Federal Capital Territory High Court presided over by Justice O. Goodluck was on Wednesday told how a University don, Stephen Abah who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission obtained $48.500 from one Godwin Udeh Orokpu by false pretence.

Orokpu who works at Eurest Support Services as Health Safety Environment & Quality Manager in Doha, Qatar, while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Sukuji Bandawa, told the court how the accused persuaded him to invest the sum of Forty Eight Thousand, Five Hundred United States Dollars ($48,500) and Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira respectively in an eatery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The prosecution team tendered the computer print-out of correspondences between the accused and the victim as exhibits before the court.

The witness also informed the court that the accused never sent him a Memorandum of Understanding or business plan even though the business was supposed to be a partnership of equal stake by the parties. He said that apart from the discovery that the accused had awarded a 20 percent stake to his wife in the venture, the accused called him in January 2011 to inform him that the business had collapsed.

Abah was first arraigned in May, 2013 on a two count charge of criminal breach of trust, conspiracy and obtaining under false pretence offence.

He was later re-arraigned on an amended two- count charge on July 16, 2013.

The case has been adjourned to October 8 and 10, 2013 for cross examination.