Abatan Oluwasheun V. The Federal Republic of Nigeria (2016)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

JUMMAI HANNATU SANKEY, J.C.A.

This is an appeal against the Judgment of the Gombe State High Court of Justice in Charge No. GM/4C/2009, delivered on the 10th August, 2012, wherein the Lower Court entered Judgment in favour of the Respondent herein in a charge against the Appellant for obtaining money by false pretences.
The brief facts of the case are this: The Appellant set up an office in Gombe as an Outlet Manager of GI Network International Limited, a company engaged in the business of raising money for property development. This was with the knowledge and consent of the company after having registered as a member and been trained for the responsibilities of a manager. The objectives and operational policy of the company business were spelt out in its flyers, (Exhibits 1 and 2) as follows: a pragmatic means to help most Nigerians achieve their dreams of becoming home owners through the Multi Level Marketing (MLM) method of savings by making enough savings to acquire non-controversial but affordable homes. They stated that their products therefore, as real estate agents, were selling of land,

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houses and home care products to Nigerians through the MLM system. The operation of this policy referred to as ?Multi-Level Marketing?, was as follows: members were registered with a modest sum of N3, 500.00 and thereafter, receive monthly benefits in kind and in cash whenever they introduce a new member to the program. The program consisted of seven stages. The benefits in kind were household products such as creams, soaps, perfumes, etc; while the cash rewards, referred to as ?bonus?, was from N500.00 for those at the level of Stage 1, N1000.00 for those on Stage 2, and so on until they reach Stage 7. A new member would start from Stage 1 Level 1, and depending on his performance, would move up the ladder until he reached Stage 7. A member who attains Stage 7 would then be rewarded with the award of a house or the sum of $2000 as an incentive for his performance. Thereafter, he could commence the cycle again from Stage 1. On the face of the flyers therefore, the promise for the members is: ?An easy strategy for making N3, 937, 000 to build your own house?.

The Appellant, after registering as a member in the

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program and been trained as an Outlet manager, moved to Gombe from Lagos in February, 2008. A few months thereafter, he began operating the business by marketing and registering members into the program. In line with the training he received as an Outlet Manager which allowed Managers to be independent of the parent company at the headquarters in Lagos, and in addition to the initial training materials he received from the company such as flyers and ID cards, the Appellant printed more flyers, receipts, and the like, to facilitate the smooth and effective running of the office. In addition however, out of his own initiative, he developed a further marketing strategy which he coined ?long term and short term investments?. The ?long-term investment? was essentially in tandem with the operational policy of the parent company whereby persons register as members and move through the seven stages until they reach the objective of acquiring a house or the sum of $2000. The ?short term investment? however consisted of a registered member paying a lump sum of money into the personal account of the Appellant as an investment, and

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after a period of six weeks, he would receive 21% on the sum paid as a return on his investment, plus a refund of his principal sum. Apparently, this was not in line with the operational policy of the parent company, and the President and Operational Director at the parent company in Lagos were not aware of the activities of the Appellant in this regard.

Meanwhile, the Appellant continued to promote and market the short-term investment program to more and more persons who deposited large sums of money into his account with a view to reaping from their investments after a period of six weeks, as promised. He even persuaded the Commissioner of Education, Gombe State, of the viability and efficacy of this program and the benefit to Nigerians, such that he was granted free access to schools under the Ministry to market the program to teachers and other staff. The program achieved quite a measure of success such that between the months of August and September, 2008, he had 39 registered members on the program who had invested the total sum of N2, 395, 700.00 (Exhibits 14A, 14B and 14C).

?However, the investments were yet to mature when he was arrested by

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the operatives of the EFCC in Gombe. The EFCC, acting on intelligence reports received, arrested the Appellant, sealed up his office and froze his bank account. They accused him of obtaining money under false pretences. The Appellant was subsequently charged on six counts, which charge was later amended and increased to eight counts as contained in the Amended Charge dated 27th May, 2010. Each of counts one to six in the Amended charge accused the Appellant of obtaining money by false pretences from named persons under Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006; while by Counts 7 and 8, he was charged with Forgery and being in possession of a forged document punishable under Sections 364 and 368 of the Penal Code Law (pages 45-48 of the printed Record).

?The Appellant was duly arraigned before the High Court of Justice, Gombe State where he pleaded not guilty to all counts of charge. To prove their case, the prosecution called nine witnesses, while four witnesses, (the Appellant inclusive), testified for the defence. The President and the Operational Director of the parent company,