By Adeleye Kunle
A Kwara State High Court, sitting in Ilorin, has convicted one Sunday Adeniyi Olusegun, of Safe Trip Transport Company for issuing dud cheques in a bid to defray his indebtedness to one Alhaja Kudirat Ibiyeye, an Ilorin-based businesswoman.
According to the judgement delivered by Justice A. O. Akinpelu, the convict was found guilty of the said offence and was consequently sentenced to a suspended two years imprisonment pursuant to Section 451(1) of the Kwara State Administration of Criminal Justice Law with some conditions.
The conditions according to the judgement was that the convict shall within a period of three weeks engage in Community Service of cleaning or clearing the Court premises as assigned to him by the Chief Registrar between the hours of 8.00am and 12noon daily, and that the service of the convict shall be monitored and supervised by the Registry of the High Court.
“Neither has he shown by any iota of evidence that at times material, he had sufficient funds in his account to enable the cheques in issue to be funded when presented for payment as agreed.
“PW4, who went on investigation to the bank and was told that the cheques were dud cheques was not confronted with the fact that the bank was ordered not to cashback the cheques as claimed.
“On this premise, it was found that at the time that there was no sufficient fund in the account of the defendant,” the court noted.
It is long settled by judicial authorities according to the judgment that when a cheque is dishonoured upon presentment for reason of lack of sufficient funds in the bank account from which it is to be paid, this provides a reasonable basis for a criminal complaint against the drawer for issuing a dud or dishonoured cheque, irrespective of the fact that the cheque was initially issued as a post-dated cheque in discharge of a written contractual obligation to secure or guarantee the payment of a loan
