Segun Oyedepo, 67, the owner of Fedeco International College in Ibadan, was charged on Wednesday in a Grade ‘A’ Customary Court in Ibadan with allegedly embezzling funds intended for the National Examinations Council, NECO, for pupils.
Oyedepo, who has pleaded not guilty, faces charges of theft and acquiring money under false pretences.
The prosecutor, Philip Amusan, told the court that the defendant allegedly committed the crime between September 2023 and June 2024 at the aforementioned school.
Amusan claimed that the defendant fraudulently obtained N1.7 million, which was intended for the NECO registration of 13 students.
He claimed that the defendant received money from Hammed Olayode and 12 others to register the students but failed to do so.
According to Amusan, the offence violates Sections 419 and 390(9) of Oyo State’s Criminal Laws, 2000.
Mrs Sukurat Yusuf, the Court’s President, admitted the defendant to bail in the amount of N2 million, with two sureties in the same amount.
Yusuf ruled that one of the sureties must be a relative of the defendant and provide evidence of two years of tax clearance before adjourning the case to July 19 for hearing.