Police in Lagos have charged to court a treasurer in the Apostolic Church of Nigeria, identified simply as Robbinson, for allegedly swindling a pastor of the church of N850,000.
Mr Robbinson, a resident of Berger area of Lagos, faced charges of theft and obtaining under false pretext at Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The Prosecutor, Michael Unah, told the court that the defendant allegedly collected N850,000 from Pastor Ekong, under the pretext of introducing him to oil and gas business, a representation he knew to be false.
Robbinson was said to have committed the alleged offence in August 2018 at about 10.25 a.m. at Ogba, Lagos.
Mr Unah said the defendant, who was an elder and also a treasurer in the church, obtained N850,000 from the complainant and relocated to an unknown destination.
“The complainant initially transferred a sum of N500,000 to the defendant’s FCMB account and also gave him N350,000 cash belonging to the church.
“The defendant stopped coming to church and fled to an unknown destination the moment he collected the money,” the prosecutor said.
The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 287 and 314 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015. (Revised)
The church treasurer denied the charges. He faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Chief Magistrate A.A. Fashola admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N300,000 bail with two sureties in like sum.
Mr Fashola ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed and show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
The magistrate adjourned the case until June 17 for mention.
