Destiny Otubambo

 

A man, Destiny Otubambo, has been arraigned before an Ogba Magistrates’ Court for allegedly impersonating a legal practitioner and fraudulently obtaining mobile phones.

Otubambo was arraigned on five counts of stealing, fraud and impersonation.

It was learnt that the 27-year-old on May 2018 approached a phone retailer at the Ikota Shopping Complex, Lekki, Ajah, Lagos. It was gathered that he introduced himself as Adeleke, a legal practitioner, and requested a Techno Camon X Pro and iPhone 7plus. He allegedly claimed that he was cashless and wished to pay through online transfer.

The suspect was reportedly given an account number, to which the amount would be credited.

After a few minutes, he allegedly claimed that he had transferred the money.

To prove that he had sent the money, he allegedly showed a debit alert from Zenith account number 2110746005, titled, Destiny Ayo Adeleke. Believing it to be true, the shop owner reportedly released the phones to him and requested his phone number. It was later discovered that the alert was a fake, while the phone number was unreachable and the account number non-existent.

The girlfriend of the suspect, Marian Amuche, whose pictures were downloaded from the suspect’s Instagram page, led detectives to arrest Otubambo.

The suspect, in his statement to the police, confessed to the crime, saying he had sold the phones to buyers he met online.

A police prosecutor, Oluwaseun Dada, told the court that the offences contravened sections 287, 280(1) (b), 329(1) (c) and 380 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The charges read in part, “That you, Destiny Otubambo, on May 17, 2018, around 1pm at MTN office, Ikoyi, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did steal an iPhone valued at N122,000 property of one Hussein Muiz.

”That you, Destiny Otubambo, on May 25, 2018, around 2pm at Okota shopping complex, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, fraudulently obtained an iPhone 7plus, valued at N300,000, through the medium of a fake alert, property of Mrs Olanibi Fusika.

“That you, Destiny Otubambo, on the same date, time and place, in the aforesaid magisterial district, did have in your possession legal practitioner attire, while you are not a legal practitioner, with the intent of using it to defraud innocent people.”

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The presiding magistrate, A. K. Dosumu, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties each in like sum.

She said the sureties should be gainfully employed with evidence of a two-year tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

The case was adjourned till September 18, 2018.