LAGOS COURT TO DETERMINE ADMISSIBILITY OF KEY EVIDENCE IN PROPERTY FRAUD CASE
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By: Fasasi Hammad
The Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed October 27, 2026, to rule on the admissibility of documents the police seek to tender as evidence in an ongoing N152 million property fraud case.
Justice Musa Kakaki scheduled the ruling after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defence on whether four offer letters allegedly indicating attempts to resell the disputed properties should be admitted as evidence.
At the hearing, the prosecuting counsel, Chief Superintendent of Police Monday Omo-Osagie, presented the third prosecution witness, Engineer Anthony Ugbebor, the nominal complainant, who travelled from the United States to testify.
Ugbebor told the court that he entered into an agreement with the defendants in November 2017 after being assured that the second defendant was a reputable property developer capable of delivering a retirement home project in Nigeria.
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He stated that between November 2017 and December 2020, he made four payments totalling N152 million, representing 80 per cent of the N190 million purchase price for two flats located on the second floor of the development. According to him, the amount constituted his life savings and was worth about $400,000 at the exchange rate at the time.
The witness said the apartments were expected to be delivered by February 28, 2019, but construction later stalled. He added that he sent a representative to inspect the project site on October 11, 2022.
Ugbebor further alleged that by December 2024, the developer had begun efforts to sell the same apartments to other buyers at significantly higher prices. He claimed that one offer letter dated January 10, 2024, listed the properties at N1.23 billion, while another dated January 11, 2024, quoted N950 million. A third letter dated February 5, 2024, reportedly valued the second-floor flats at N360 million each.
“I gave the developer my life savings after spending more than 38 years in the United States. I paid N152 million, equivalent to about $400,000,” he told the court.
However, when the prosecution attempted to tender the four offer letters, defence counsel Adeleke Agboola (SAN) objected, arguing that the documents were inadmissible because the witness neither authored nor received them.
Agboola also contended that at least three of the documents were photocopies and cited Section 83(1)(b) of the Evidence Act, maintaining that the makers of the documents should be called to testify.
In response, Omo-Osagie urged the court to overrule the objection, arguing that the documents were relevant to the issues before the court and admissible under Section 15 of the Evidence Act.
Following submissions from both parties, Justice Kakaki adjourned the matter to October 27, 2026, for a ruling on the admissibility of the disputed documents.
The Chief Executive Officer of Oak Homes Limited, Olukayode Olusanya, is standing trial alongside the company on four counts of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence, fraud and stealing, filed by the Nigeria Police Force.
The defendants were arraigned on November 26, 2024, and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
According to the prosecution, Olusanya and the company’s former Head of Sales and Marketing, Lynda Umeh, who is currently at large, allegedly defrauded Ugbebor of N152 million between November 2017 and August 2020.
The police alleged that the money was collected under the pretext of selling two three-bedroom apartments at Oak Residence in Victoria Island, Lagos, with a promised delivery date of February 28, 2019, which was never fulfilled.
Earlier in the proceedings, the police had sought the court’s permission for Ugbebor, a Nigerian-American, to testify virtually from the United States through a motion filed by the prosecution.
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