A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday granted actress Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, popularly known as Simisola Gold, bail following her arraignment in court on Monday.

This comes after she was arrested on February 2 by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for allegedly tampering with new naira notes on social media.

On 13th February, she was arraigned on a two-count charge of tampering with the sum of N100,000 issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and dancing on the same at the said occasion.

According to the prosecutor, Sulaiman Sulaiman, the offence was contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.

The charge against the actress read: “That you, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, on January 28, 2023, at Monarch event centre, Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social occasion, tampered with the sum of N100 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same in the said occasion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21 (1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”

The actress denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Following her not-guilty plea, counsel to the actress, Adenike Goncalves, asked the court to grant her client bail pending the hearing and determination of the case.

Bail conditions

A judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, who presided over the arraignment, admitted the actress to bail in the sum of N5m with one surety.

He also ruled that the surety must be a public servant in the service of the Federation or the Lagos State Government not below the rank of Grade Level 12 or a holder of a genuine statutory certificate of occupancy of a developed landed property within the Lagos State Municipality.

The court also held that the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the original statutory certificate of occupancy of the landed property is to be deposited with the Registrar of the court, and in the case of the public servant, an official letter from their head of department stating the status and salary level of the surety.

The surety is also to produce two copies of his recent passport photograph and evidence of tax payment to the court.

The judge also ordered that the actress be further remanded in the Kirikiri correctional facility pending the perfection of the bail terms before adjourning the matter till 3rd April for trial.

Her counsel also urged the court to remand her client in the EFCC’s custody, pending the perfection of the bail terms, if so granted by the court.