Court refuses bail to Nigerian national in fraud case

Mumbai sessions court has rejected the bail plea of a Nigerian national allegedly involved in syphoning off ₹5.43 crore from several account holders of the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait

Mumbai Mumbai sessions court has rejected the bail plea of a Nigerian national allegedly involved in syphoning off ₹5.43 crore from several account holders of the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait by creating 78 fake accounts.

While rejecting the bail plea of Michael Okhonko, additional sessions judge resources M Sadrani observed that considering the evidence collected against the accused and nature of offences, it was not a fit case to grant bail (HT File)

While rejecting the bail plea of Michael Okhonko, additional sessions judge resources M Sadrani observed that considering the evidence collected against the accused and nature of offences, it was not a fit case to grant bail.

The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait had lodged a complaint in the month of October 2021, after it noticed missing money from some of its customers’ bank accounts. A total of ₹5.43 crores was transferred to 78 different accounts.

The investigation was handed over to the South Region of Cyber Cell police, which also arrested Samir Khan, Prabhanshu Jatav, Dinesh Jatav, Ravi Raje in the case.

Assistant Public Prosecutor Abhijit Gondwal had informed the court that when the cops went to his address in New Delhi, they found 11 mobiles, two hard disks, three laptops and several SIM cards. All the SIM cards were purchased in the names of different people. The accused was arrested on October 31, 2021.

Although his visa expired in 2016, Okhonko was still residing in the country and even paid ₹2,000 to every person who helped him open an account.