U.S court dismisses case of fraud against Woodberry
A United States court has dismissed the case against Olalekan Ponle aka Woodberry, a Nigerian accused of multi-million dollar wire fraud, Premium Times reports.
On June 10, Woodberry was arrested, alongside Ramon Abbas (Hushpuppi) in the United Arab Emirates and charged for multiple frauds after a simultaneous raid by operatives of the Dubai crime unit.
Woodberry and Hushpuppi after their arrest by the Dubai Police were extradited to the U.S. on July 2.
The 29-year-old was facing charges bordering on wire fraud conspiracy at a United States District Court in Illinois. According to the complaint against Mr. Ponle, an unnamed Chicago company was tricked into sending wire transfers totaling $15.2 million. Companies based in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York, and California also were victims of the fraud, prosecutors say.
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 the defendant’s counsel has no objection to this motion. Respectfully submitted,” Mr. Lausch stated.
A court order issued by Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Tuesday said the government’s motion to dismiss the 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.
However, since the case was dismissed without prejudice, the dismissal is temporary as the prosecutor can refile the case within a certain period of time.
The reason for the dismissal against Mr. Ponle could be due to the unavailability of sufficient evidence, an improper criminal complaint or charging document, to loss of evidence necessary to prove the defendant committed the crime.
