Court Acquits 2 Chinese National over Alleged Forgery
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has discharged and acquitted two Chinese nationals, Hao Aijun and Liu Yangxi, who were accused of engaging in forgery and fraud.
The court, in the judgement that was delivered by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, equally absorbed a Nigerian, Obi Anthony Chibuzor, of any complicity in the alleged crime.
The trio, who are directors of BN Ceramics Industry Nigeria Limited, were in a 13-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/77/2017, which was entered against them by the Nigeria Police Force, alleged to have forged the company’s board resolutions.
However, upon their arraignment, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Sequel to a no case-submission they filed in the matter, Justice Dimgba, in an interlocutory ruling, struck out eight out of the 13-count charge.
The defendants subsequently entered their defence in relation to the remaining five counts, following which Justice Dimgba gave his judgment, discharging and acquitting them of the allegation police brought against them.
The trial judge upheld arguments by lawyer to Aijun and Yangxi, Mr. Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, and counsel to Chibuzor, Anozie Obi, stressing that the prosecution, represented by M. O. Omosun, failed to prove its case.
“From the totality of the evidence given in this case, most especially the testimony of prosecution witness (PW)1, PW2 and PW5, none of their testimony has been able to link the defendants with any act of forgery.
“Even the testimony of the handwriting experts and the reports of their findings, as manifested in Exhibits HA4, HA5, HA11 and HA13, did not link the defendants to the document, the signature of the PW1 said to have been forged,” the trial judge held.
The court further held that the prosecution failed to call necessary witnesses, who would have supplied vital evidence to support the charge.
“Consequent on the above, I hereby find the defendants not guilty of the charges preferred against them.
“I hold that the prosecution has failed to prove the offence of conspiracy against the defendants by the standard required by law, which is beyond reasonable doubt and I hereby discharge and acquit the defendants on count one.
“I discharge and acquit the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants on counts two, three and four because, from all that I have said, it is obvious that the prosecution has not discharged the burden placed on them to prove the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
“I also hereby discharge and acquit the 3rd defendant on count five for the same reasons and add that the offence of uttering cannot be sustained when there is no forgery established,” Justice Dimgba held.
The police had filed the charge upon a complaint by one of BN Ceramics’ directors, Zhang Xing, following a boardroom disagreement.
In an earlier judgment, Justice Donatus Okorowo of the high court had also stuck out a civil suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/606/2016, which was filed against other directors of the company.
Cited as defendants in the suit were: BN Ceramics, Hao Aijun, Chen Enlai, Liu Yangxi, Zhang Qide and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Justice Okorowo held that the suit was incompetent, saying the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear it.
He held that the plaintiff failed to fulfil the condition precedent that would have conferred jurisdiction on the court to entertain the case.
