"EFCC apprehends an Italian citizen who was previously convicted for showing disrespect towards the court."

 

Story by Iyiola Ayomide

The Italian National who was previously convicted has been re-arrested by the EFCC on charges of contempt of court. 

 A convicted Italian, Floriana De-Stefani, has been re-arrested by the EFCC due to her non-compliance with a court order after being convicted by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos.

 In a statement released on Friday in Abuja, Dele Oyewale, the spokesperson for the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), made this announcement. 

 Oyewale stated that on October 7, 2022, the judge convicted De-Stefani for utilizing fraudulent paperwork and forged seals to falsely claim ownership of a property.

 According to him, the ownership of the property was claimed by Waterside Properties Limited, which is in violation of Section 366 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State. 

" He stated that during the delivery of the verdict, Dada sentenced the offender to a three-year imprisonment term and further instructed the release of the property located at 14 A&B Warring Road in Ikoyi, Lagos (formerly known as Bayo Kuku Road) to Waterside Properties Limited within a timeframe of three weeks. 

 According to him, De-Stefani, nonetheless, was taken into custody again on December 19, 2023, as he declined to leave the property that the court had instructed to be handed over to the company. 

 "After being detained on Tuesday, she was also served with a notification by the Commission to evacuate the premises within a week or face legal consequences."

 De-Stefani, in conjunction with Stella Ndubusi Ogboji, was initially charged on March 30, 2019, with five separate offenses related to the fraudulent act of forging documents and unlawfully taking possession of a property owned by the company called Waterside Properties Limited.

 He stated that the prosecution counsel, Ahmed Yerima, later modified the charges to six counts. 

 He stated that one of the revised accusations stated: "Floriana De-Stefani, at some point in 2015, within the Ikeja judicial Division of this respected court, improperly appropriated a property known as No. 14A/B Warring Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which belongs to Waterside Properties Limited." (NAN)