A High Court sitting in Akure, Ondo State has sentenced a former Vice Chancellor of Elizade University, Prof. Adekunle Oloyede, to five years inprisonment for a $720,000 fraud.
The judge, Justice Aderemi Adegoroye, found the accused guilty of all six counts of false pretences, stealing, and fraud, which were in violation of the state’s anti-graft laws.
Oloyede was accused of fraudulently obtaining the sum of $720,000 for the construction of a 500-bed space at the school. He also obtained the sums of $250,000, $150,000, and $620,000 at different times.
The money was collected from one, Mike Ade Investment Limited for Duro Global Property under false pretences of using the amount for the construction of a hostel for the institution.
The State Legal Officer, represented by Mr. O.E. Akintan, brought the case against Oloyede for conspiracies to steal and obtain by false pretence, contrary to and punishable under section 516 of the criminal code.
Although, Oloyede pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the allegation against him.
However, evidence presented in court, revealed that several amounts running into millions in foreign currency were paid into an account linked to Oloyede and his associates for the importation of panels for the construction of a hostel for students of the university.
Despite the payment for the panels and for the shipment of the materials from Australia to Ilara-Mokin in Ondo State, the former Vice Chancellor failed to execute the projects, leading to his arrest and prosecution for alleged fraud by the state government.
