less of fraud and I so hold. That the defendant was able to use the
forged document to convince and hoodwink Okon Amasi does not make it
an authentic document.
From all the foregoing, it is my view that the defendant gave Okon
Amasi the certificate of occupancy, Appendix ‘B’ to Exhibit 1 and I so
hold. Furthermore, at the time she gave Okon Amasi the Certificate, she
knew she had given the authentic copy, Appendix A to British International
School as part of her title documents for the sale to Dyna Ladejj
Investment Ltd. who eventually sold to the school and I so hold. I have
no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the defendant knew that the
certificate of occupancy she gave to Okon Amasi as collateral for a loan
was a fake document which she knowingly presented as a genuine
document and I so hold. She presented the forged document as an
authentic title document for the property it purportedly covered. She
admitted the document was made under her direction in her statement. It
follows therefore that the defendant either forged the document herself or
procured someone else to do it. She derived benefit from using the fake
document as a genuine one. She used
it as collateral
to secure
advantage in a transaction she had with Okon Amasi over the land
covered by the document. Okon Amasi received the document and acted
on it under the belief that it was genuine.
In the case of OSONDU VS. F.R.N. (2000) 12 NWLR Pt. 682
Pg. 483 at 505 Paras. A - D Edozie JCA held as follows:
“It is the law that where a document was shown to be used
as an intermediate step in a scheme of fraud in which an
accused person was involved, then if it is shown that such
document was false and was presented or uttered by an
accused in order to gain advantage an irresistible inference
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