By Jerry Uwah
Lagos
Alleged advance fee fraud kingpin, Fred Ajudua, yesterday in a Lagos High Court in Ikeja lost the battle for bail.
Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye ruled that Ajudua, who is standing trial for allegedly defrauding a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, of $5.9 million, has a history of not only jumping bail, but interfering with investigation.
Ruling on the application filed by Ajudua’s counsel, Mr Olalekan Ojo, the trial judge dismissed the application for lacking in merit.
Ipaye, who admitted that the evidence before the court showed that Ajudua was suffering from complicated ailments as a result of having a solitary kidney, said that factor alone does not warrant granting him bail.
She said Ajudua’s antecedents in a separate criminal matter before another Lagos State High Court revealed that he not only jumped bail but also allegedly interfered with the prosecution’s witness.
“In the circumstances therefore, I hold that the application for bail lacks merit and it is hereby refused,” she said.
She, therefore, adjourned the matter till June 30, for commencement of trial.
Ajudua was charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly conspired with others (now at large) to perpetrate the fraud between November 2004 and June 2005.
According to the EFCC, the defendant defrauded Bamaiyi while they were both on remand at Kirikiri Prison in Lagos for separate alleged crimes.
The Commission said Ajudua obtained the money from Bamaiyi by claiming that it represented the professional fees charged by Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) to handle his case.
He is also alleged to have claimed that the money would help to facilitate Bamaiyi’s release from prison.