Court grants 34-year-old doctor bail over alleged cheating

A Grade I Area Court, Kubwa has granted a N1 million bail to a 34-year-old doctor, Kelvin Royce over alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust.

The police had arraigned the defendant, who resides in Brickcity Estate, Kubwa, Abuja, with criminal breach of trust and cheating, which he pleaded not guilty to on July 20.

The judge, Ibrahim Rufai, ordered the defendant to produce one surety and deposit N200,000 to the court as security.

Rufai said that the surety must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and provide a means of identification.

He adjourned the matter until Sept. 25 for a hearing.

Earlier, the defence counsel, Anenih Enabosi applied for the bail of the defendant, citing Sections 158,162 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

Enabosi said that bail was at the discretion of the court and urged it to exercise same judicially and judiciously.

The prosecution counsel, however, opposed to the bail, saying that the defendant had been on the run and was tracked before he got arrested.

He urged the court to invoke Section 165(2) of ACJA, which allowed a surety to provide a certain amount of money before bail.

Okpa told the court that the complainant, Mr Eyarunu Davies, reported the matter at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Byazhin on March 14, 2022.

He alleged that the defendant collected N5.1 million from the complainant to rent five-unit shops for him sometime in 2020.

He added that the said sum was transferred to the defendant’s Access Bank account,, but he absconded to an unknown destination after receiving it.

The offences, he said, contravened the provisions of Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.