Gabarone - The Botswana High Court on Tuesday denied bail to a Nigerian citizen charged with swindling a local commercial bank of Pula 2 million (about R2.4m).
According to court records, Chukwuma Ezekannagha, 51, allegedly obtained the money on October 20, 2014 by falsely pretending he had plots in Mogoditshane village to use as security.
Investigations revealed Ezekannagha did not own the plots.
After a manhunt, he was arrested by Directorate of Intelligence officials on February 5, 2015 and was jailed in the Gaborone maximum prison.
Ezekannagha has since been charged with a single count of obtaining by false pretences.
His lawyer Paul Muzimo said the he owned several businesses that would suffer if he was denied bail, and that he was a family man and did not own any property outside Botswana.
Ezekannagha had been in Botswana for nine years, during which he never committed any offence.
Muzimo wanted the bail application to be treated with urgency.
Judge Michael Mothobi said he did not see any urgency in the matter.
“I found no reason to grant the accused bail at this stage,” he said.
The case continues.
Sapa