A United States court has dismissed the case against
Olalekan Ponle, a Nigerian accused of multi-million dollar wire fraud, PremiumTimes reports
Mr Ponle, popularly known as Woodberry, was arrested,
alongside Ramon Abbas (Hushpuppi) in the United Arab Emirate on June 10 for
multiple fraud charges after a raid by operatives of the Dubai crime unit.
The duo were extradited to the U.S. on July 2.
According to the complaint against Mr Ponle, an unnamed
Chicago company was tricked into sending wire transfers totalling $15.2
million. Companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York and California
also were victims of the fraud, prosecutors say.
The 29-year-old was facing charges bordering on wire fraud
conspiracy at a United States District Court in Illinois.
In fact, a report of the grand jury, a group of lawyers
empowered to conduct legal proceedings and investigate potential criminal
conduct, indicted him.
The jury summed up the allegations against him to an
eight-count charge of wire fraud, which violates section 1343 of the United
States Codes.
Dismissal
The United States government on Monday filed a motion
through its attorney, John R. Lausch, requesting that the case against Mr Ponle
should be dismissed without prejudice.
“Counsel for the government has spoken with counsel for the
defendant and defendant’s
counsel has no objection to this motion.
Respectfully submitted,” Mr Lausch stated.
He said it is in pursuant with Federal Rules of Criminal
Procedure 48, which states that the government may, with leave of court,
dismiss an indictment, information, or complaint.
Also, the government may not dismiss the prosecution during
trial without the defendant’s consent.
A court order issued by Judge Robert W. Gettleman on
Tuesday, said the government’s motion to dismiss complaint without prejudice
was granted.
“Without objection the complaint against defendant Ponle is
dismissed without prejudice. Motion presentment hearing set for 7/23/2020 is
stricken,” Mr Gettleman ruled.
When a case is dismissed with prejudice, it is over and done
with, once and for all, and can’t be brought back to court.
However, when it is dismissed without prejudice, like in the
case of Mr Ponle, the dismissal is temporary as the prosecutor can refile the
case within a certain period of time.
According to PremiumTimes, the probable causes of dismissal range from unavailability
of sufficient evidence, an improper criminal complaint or charging document, to
loss of evidence necessary to prove the defendant committed the crime.
As of now, the reason for the dismissal against Woodberry
isn’t known but there are indications that the prosecutor will re-file a case
against him as he is yet to be released from detention.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com