The Court of Appeal of Ontario in Canada has rejected a $140,000 (about N215 million) bail bond offered by a Nigerian, Adeyanju Olaniran, pending appeal ahead of his extradition to the United States.
Olaniran and two others – a fellow Nigerian, Timothy Balogun and Rachel O’Connor – were earlier ordered remanded in detention under s. 29 of the Extradition Act, S.C. 1999, c. 18 by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, presided over by Justice J. Mirza, pending their handing over to the US by the Canadian government over alleged fraud.
The three were alleged to have been declared wanted by the State of Arkansas in US over their involvement “in a conspiracy to fraudulently acquire medical supplies from distributors and their client pharmacies”.
According to the court documents, the trio were specifically alleged to have “worked together to arrange to intercept and obtain the shipped medical supplies using couriers. Their unlawfully acquired supplies were resold for profit and these proceeds were sent digitally to bank accounts controlled by some of the Respondents. It is alleged that dozens of US based pharmacies and medical supply distributors including Company 1, Company 2, and Company 3, suffered losses”.
Justice Mirza, after rejecting the pleadings of the three accused persons, declared: ‘I am satisfied that the (sic) there is significant circumstantial evidence and direct evidence from which a trier of fact could reasonably infer identity for each of the Respondents’ involvement in the fraud scheme. In other words, the evidence proffered by the requesting state in these proceedings meets the test for committal by establishing sufficient evidence for committal that Balogun, O’Connor and Olaniyan are the persons who engaged in the alleged fraud of over $5,000’.
The judge concluded: ‘I therefore order that all of the Respondents, Balogun, O’Connor and Olaniyan, be committed into custody to await surrender, pursuant to s. 29 of the Act’.
But Olaniran, who was dissatisfied with the judgement, headed to the appeal court and requested it to grant him interim release, which was opposed by Canada’s Minister of Justice.
The Appeal Court judge, P. Lauwers, rejected the plea in the claim United States v. Olaniyan, 2025 ONCA 542 (CanLII), and accepted the Crown argument that, based on the violation of his previous bail conditions, Olaniyan should not be granted bail as he remains a flight risk.
The court also rejected the $140,000 (N215 million) offered for Olaniyan’s bail by three sureties, declaring: ‘More is required for Mr. Olaniyan to establish that his grounds for appeal meet the “not frivolous” test than a general attack of the sort he advances, which amounts to not much more than a general denial that any accused might make’.
The judge stressed: ‘Taken together, Mr. Olaniyan has not established he is not a flight risk, taking into account the serious charges he faces, his prior conduct, and inadequate bail conditions’.
