Bobrisky convicted as court fixes date for his sentencing
Justice Abimbola Awogboro of a Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted popular Nigerian cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye, also known as “Bobrisky,” for currency abuse.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Bobrisky with six counts of abuse and money laundering.
Following his guilty plea, the court reserved sentencing until April 9 and ordered that he be remanded in the custody of the EFCC until then. During the proceedings, the prosecutor, Mr. Suleiman Suleiman, informed the court that the defendant agreed to plead guilty to the charges after discussions.
As a result, counts five and six were struck out, leaving counts one to four. When the remaining counts were read to the defendant, he pleaded guilty to them. The investigating police officer, Mr. Bolaji Temitope, provided a brief overview of the case as the prosecution witness.
Temitope stated that during the investigation, videos were discovered showing the defendant mutilating Naira notes. The defendant admitted to his actions when confronted with the videos during questioning at the EFCC office.
The prosecutor presented the videos, the defendant’s statement, and a certificate of identification as evidence, which were admitted by the court. Based on the evidence presented, the court found the defendant guilty as charged.
READ ALSO: EFCC arrests Bobrisky for spraying naira notes
In a plea for mercy, Bobrisky stated that he is a social media influencer with five million followers.
He said: “In all honesty, I was not aware of the law; my lord, I wish I can be given a second chance to use my platform to educate my followers about spraying the naira
“I will do a video on my page and educate those who do not know like myself, about spraying of the Naira; I regret my action,” he said
On his part. defence counsel begged for a non custodial sentence for the defendant.
The court then rose briefly after the allocutus by defence.
When the court resumed, the judge reserved judgement until April 9, and ordered that he be remanded in EFCC custody pending judgement.
Recall that Bobrisky, was arrested on Thursday by the anti-graft agency in connection with the offence.
According to the charge, he was said to have committed the offence on March 24, at Circle Mall, Jakande in the Lekki area of Lagos.
The agency said that he tampered with the cumulative sum of N400,000 while dancing during a social event, by spraying same.
He was said to have sprayed various tranches of money between 2022 and 2023 such as N20,000 and N50,000 at various events.
Meanwhile, in the struck out counts, the EFCC had said that the defendant trading under the name and style of BobExpress between Sept. 1, 2021 and April 4, also failed to submit to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering , a declaration of the activities of his company.
According to the EFCC, within the said period, the sum of N128 million was paid into the company’s account.
It had said that within same period the defendant failed to submit a declaration to the unit, of his company, where the sum of N53 million was paid.
The offences contravene the provisions of sections 21(1) Central Bank Act 2007, and 19 Money Laundering Act 2022.
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