Actress remanded in Lagos for spraying, stepping on new Naira notes

Glory Ebomah

The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, February 13, 2023, arraigned an actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State on charges bordering on two counts of tampering with the redesigned Naira notes.

One of the counts read: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28n day of January 2023, at Monarch Event Centre Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion, tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same on the said occasion; and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.

The second count reads: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on the 28th day of January 2023, at Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst dancing during a social occasion, tampered with the sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by dancing on same on the said occasion; and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said the accused pleaded “not guilty” to the offence.

In view of her plea, the prosecution counsel, S.I Sulaiman, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed that the defendant be remanded in the appropriate correctional facility.

Counsel to the defendant, Adenike Goncalves, prayed the court to admit the defendant to bail, pending the hearing and determination of the case.

The defence counsel also prayed that her client be remanded in EFCC custody, pending the perfection of the bail terms, if so, granted by the court.

While submitting that bail was at the discretion of the court, the prosecution counsel prayed that in the event bail was granted, the conditions of the bail term should be such that would enable the defendant to be present during the trial.

Justice Aneke deferred the ruling on the bail application to Wednesday, February 15, 2023, and remanded the defendant in Kirikiri correctional facility.

Omoseyin was arrested by operatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Fraud Related Offences Commission, ICPC, on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, along Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, and was handed over to the EFCC for investigation.

The 31-year-old was arrested after the video of her spraying and stepping on the newly redesigned Naira notes at a party surfaced online.

In the viral video, she was also seen flaunting wads of the new Naira notes.

In her statement to the commission, she claimed that she received the new Naira notes from her fans at the party and that she did not know the persons who gave her the money. Items recovered from her at the point of arrest include a Range Rover and iPhone mobile devices.