A Nigerian software engineer who is already before the court on an accusation that he married three Jamaican women over a six-month period in 2008, has again found himself in trouble with the law and is back behind bars on a fraud charge.

Shadrach Momah, who was released on $200,000 bail last year on a polygamy charge, was arrested and charged in February after he was accused of conning a woman out of $60,000 and also for having fraudulent driver's and learner driver's licences.

However, yesterday, when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court, he pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of false documents, two counts of conspiracy to deceive and eight counts of obtaining money by false pretence.

He was remanded in custody by Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey and will return to court for mention on March 16 when he will also be tried on the polygamy charge.

According to court documents, between January 5 and February 22, Momah pretended to be Dick Motsewetscha and collected money from the complainant, who was in the United States, in return for a 10-year American visa.

However, when he did not provide the visa, the complainant reported the matter to the police.

The court was told that the police probe revealed that Momah had changed his name from Motsewetscha to Momah by deed poll in 2008 in Nigeria. The investigation also uncovered that Momah had been using a driver's licence in the said name to collect the money from Western Union and also to transact business at ScotiaBank.

On February 28 when he was arrested, a learner's licence, also in the name Ifeanyia Momah, was reportedly found in his possession.

In the polygamy matter, Momah is accused of marrying three Jamaican women between July and December 2008. One of the marriages allegedly took place in Nigeria.

The court has been told that marriage documents were seized during a raid at Momah's office at 8 Ripon Road, Kingston 5, by Fraud Squad detectives and officers from the Immigration Department as part of an investigation into a passport racket.

However, Momah maintains that he had divorced his first wife through a Nigerian lawyer, who had also handled the legal proceedings for the second divorce.

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