A businessman in Lagos state was arraigned in court on Tuesday by the police for stealing marketable products worth N4 million.
Adewale Odegbesan, 33, was arraigned before the magistrate court in the Yaba area of Lagos state.
At the start of the proceeding, Magistrate O.Y. Adefope charged the defendant with three counts of conspiracy to steal and theft.
The charges passed before the defendant was allegedly committed between June 2023 and February 2024 at the Betty Distribution Company, Drop Point, Ajangbadi, Lagos, and conspired to steal products worth N4,431,300.
It was learnt that the company’s Human Resource Manager had reported that the defendant, who was employed as a marketer for the company in line with the sore attendant Sheriff Aminat, stole the products from the company.
According to the company, the missing products were discovered in early February when the company audited its sales. It was discovered that N4,431,300 worth of products were missing from the company store. It was disclosed that the defendant had obtained products from the company’s branch at Okokomaiko without notifying the branch manager and did not make them available to the customer.
The allegations were reported to the police, but the accused accepted to commit the offence and promised to refund the money but failed to do so within the stipulated time. Before reporting the incident to the police, there was no substantial evidence before the accused, but a thorough investigation by the police revealed that he had participated in the crime.
According to the prosecutor, Haruna Magaji, the alleged offence was committed between June 2023 and February 2024 and contravened Sections 411, 314, and 287 (a) (b) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.
The prosecutor also said the complainant’s statement and statements from the investigating officer were evidence that the alleged offences were committed.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges alleged against him.
The magistrate ordered a bail sum of N4m to be paid and four sureties, who are residents of Lagos State, to be provided.
He also ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Ikoyi correctional centre until he had perfected his bail terms.
The case was adjourned to September 9, 2024.
