Adedokun Waliyu 
A federal high court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos state has discharged and acquitted Olajide Kareem, the filmmaker better known as Seun Egbegbe — after spending five years and eight months in prison custody.
On February 10, 2017, the movie producer was remanded in prison for allegedly obtaining money by false pretense from about 40 Bureaus De Change operators.
Egbegbe was said to have obtained the money between 2015 to 2017 from various individuals in Lagos state.
The filmmaker was accused of swindling the BDC operators by claiming that he had naira to change into foreign currencies.
The police thereafter arraigned him for alleged fraud involving $90,000 and £12,550, and N39,098,100.
The 45-year-old was arraigned on a 36-count charge bordering on advance fee fraud alongside Oyekan Ayomide.
The charge pressed against him and Ayomide later increased to 44 after three others — Lawal Kareem, Olalekan Yusuf, and Muyideen Shoyombo — joined the case.
It is understood that at the time, the court had granted him N5 million bail.
The movie producer, however, was unable to fulfill his bail conditions, leaving him in custody since then.
But ruling on the matter on Tuesday, Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, the judge, said Egbegbe was guilty of just one of the 44 charges against him.
Oguntoyinbo struck out 43 of the 44 charges against him over a lack of witnesses to substantiate their claims.
The judge also held that the prosecution failed to provide adequate evidence to back counts 4, 19, and 21.
Oguntoyinbo further said police tampered with the money recovered from the suspects.
The judge then set Egbegbe free and ruled that all the money recovered from the filmmaker as evidence should be returned to him.
