The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has affirmed the 12-year prison sentence handed to businessman Kolawole Adedayo Erinle for his involvement in a $1.4 million fraud scheme. The ruling, delivered on Thursday, December 19, 2024, was confirmed by a three-member panel of judges.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which prosecuted the case, disclosed that Erinle and his company, Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited, were initially arraigned on March 11, 2022, before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja. However, the case was reassigned to Justice Mojisola Oshodi following Justice Taiwo’s retirement.
Erinle was re-arraigned on October 28, 2022, facing three charges: conspiracy, retention of proceeds from criminal activities, and obtaining money under false pretenses. The charges stemmed from a scheme in which Erinle and an accomplice, Edward Dada (still at large), impersonated J.E. Dunn, a U.S.-based construction company, using a fake domain, jedunn.org. This fraudulent representation enabled them to obtain $1,410,000 in 2019.
One of the charges read, “Kolawole Adedayo Erinle and Edward Dada, sometime in 2019 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired to falsely represent yourselves as J.E. Dunn, a local construction company in America, with intent to gain monetary advantage in the sum of $1,410,000 by creating a fake domain name jedunn.org, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No. 14, 2006.”
During the trial, Erinle admitted under cross-examination that he was previously convicted of fraud in the United States, where he served a 23-month prison term. Initially denying the charges, Erinle later showed remorse, saying, “I am sorry.”
On September 26, 2023, Justice Oshodi found Erinle guilty and sentenced him to 12 years in prison on the third count, with the sentences to run concurrently from February 10, 2023. Additionally, his company was fined ₦50 million, ordered to be wound up, and its assets forfeited to the Federal Government.
Erinle appealed the conviction, but the EFCC’s counsel, T.J. Banjo, urged the appellate court to reject it, arguing that the appeal lacked merit.
In delivering the lead judgment, Justice Danlami Zama Senchi upheld the trial court’s verdict, emphasizing that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
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