Oyo State High Court in Ibadan has convicted and sentenced a former Deputy Chief Registrar of the court, Mutiat Adio, to five years imprisonment for issuance of dishonoured cheque.

A statement by EFCC on Sunday said the Ibadan zonal office of the commission secured the conviction of the court’s top official on Friday.

The statement stated that Adio was convicted after pleading guilty to fresh charges of obtaining money by false pretence and issuance of dishonored cheque.

The prosecution accused her of fraudulently obtaining a 2000 Model Toyota Pathfinder SUV valued at N1,500,000 from one Fabunmi Samuel of Fatai Olanrewaju Motors by issuing a cheque without corresponding value cash value in the account.

The victim was said to have released the said vehicle to her but the cheque was dishonoured within three months of issuance for insufficient funds in the account.

Upon arraignment on January 30, 2018, the defendant had initially pleaded “not guilty” to the charges but later changed her plea to “guilty” after a plea bargain agreement leading to the amendment of the charges.

The trial judge, M. L Owolabi, thereafter pronounced the defendant guilty of the offence and sentenced her to three years in prison.

The court also ordered her to restitute to the fraud victim, Samuel of Fatai Olanrewaju Motors N500,000 in addition to the N1,000,000 she had previously paid in restitution to the victim.

Ms Adio had been previously jailed twice for fraud on May 18, 2018, when she was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for obtaining N9.2 million from one Abiodun Olonade, a Nigerian resident in Ireland, by false pretence.

Also, on March 6, 2020 she was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for stealing N22,375,913 from Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

PT