An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has sentenced a former staff member of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Olayiwola Oguntade, to five years in prison for fraud.
Justice Bayo Taiwo convicted Oguntade after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the EFCC had arraigned him on October 13, 2020, on a three-count amended charge of forgery, advance fee fraud, and obtaining money by false pretence amounting to N10 million.
According to the prosecution, Oguntade fraudulently obtained N10 million from Polybadan Microfinance Bank in 2010 under the guise of executing an internet service contract purportedly awarded by JAMB.
He presented a forged Local Purchase Order (LPO) and a Letter of Domiciliation as collateral for the loan, deceiving the bank into granting him the funds.
Further investigations revealed that he enlisted the help of a friend, Kola Al-Amin, a customer of the bank, to process the loan in Al-Amin’s name.
The convict then directed the disbursement of the funds into accounts belonging to three companies—Reeden Investment Limited, Danmarg Multiventures Company, and Enrich System Nigeria Limited—under the false pretext of procuring equipment for the supposed contract.
However, findings showed that the forged LPOs were initially issued to these companies as part of Oguntade’s elaborate scheme to defraud the bank and settle previous fraudulent loans.
Following a four-year trial, during which the prosecution presented 10 witnesses and submitted incriminating documents as evidence, Justice Taiwo ruled on January 28, 2025, that the EFCC had successfully established its case.
He, subsequently, sentenced Oguntade to five years imprisonment without an option of a fine.
With the verdict, the former JAMB finance officer has begun serving his sentence in the prison custody.
