A 27-year-old woman, Rosemary Godday, has been arrested by the police for allegedly attempting to withdraw money from her friend’s bank account.
PUNCHMetro gathered that Godday impersonated her friend, Rosemary Onovakpuri, by filling a cash withdrawal teller for N500,000 with a forged signature.
It was learnt that Godday was apprehended when a discrepancy in the signature on the teller and that of the account holder in the bank’s system was discovered.
Upon her arrest, Godday claimed that she impersonated Onovakpuri because she owed her.
She said, “I went to the bank to withdraw the sum of N500,000 belonging to one of my friends called Rosemary. She was not aware that I was trying to forge her signature to withdraw the said amount. The basis for my action was annoyance of what she did to me four years ago.
“She robbed me of the sum of N3m. I did not know how she did it but all I can say is that she sometimes accompanied me to the bank. That was why I decided to pay her back by forging her signature before I was caught by security personnel.
“Since she withdrew my money four years ago, I have not seen or heard from her but I have had it in mind to pay her back in her own coin.”
Godday was arraigned before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on three counts of manner likely to cause breach of peace, impersonation and stealing.
The police prosecutor, Kenrich Nomayo, said the offences contravened sections 166 (a), 378(1) and 21(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.
The charges read in part, “That you, Rosemary Godday, on January 3, 2019, around 2pm at Diamond Bank Plc, Oshodi Branch, Charity bus stop, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did conduct yourself in a manner likely to cause the breach of peace.
“That you, Rosemary Godday, on the same date, time and place in the aforementioned magisterial district, did criminally impersonate one Rosemary Onovakpuri with intent to defraud her of the sum of N500,000 in Diamond Bank Plc, Oshodi branch, Charity bus stop.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The presiding magistrate, Mrs T. A. Ojo, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N200,00 with two sureties in like sum.
She said the sureties must be blood relatives of the accused, gainfully employed with evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government and have their addresses verified by the court.
Ojo added that the sureties must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and adjourned the case till February 12, 2019.