Justice Malami Dogondaji of the Sokoto State High Court has convicted and sentenced one Ahmad Abubakar Ahmad to 87 years imprisonment for criminal breach of trust and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N325, 800,000.
He was jailed on Thursday, October 5, 2023 after pleading guilty to 12- count charges bordering on criminal breach of trust and obtaining by false pretence.
One of the charges reads: “That you Abubakar Ahmad Abubakar sometime in October, 2022 in Sokoto within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Justice Sokoto State, while being entrusted with property to wit: the total sum of N80,100,000.00 (Eighty Million One Hundred Thousand Naira) by one Usama Abdullahi for the purpose of Bureau de Change business; you dishonestly converted the said property/sum to your personal use in violation of the mode in which the trust was to be discharged and you thereby committed the offence of Criminal Breach of Trust contrary to Section 300 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law 2019 and punishable under Section 301 of the same Law”.
Another charge reads: “That you Abubakar Ahmad Abubakar sometime in March, 2023 in Sokoto within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Justice Sokoto State, while being entrusted with property to wit: the total amount of N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira) by one Najib Hamza for the purpose of Bureau de Change business; you dishonestly converted the said property/sum to your personal use in violation of the mode in which the trust was to be discharged and you thereby committed the offence of Criminal Breach of Trust contrary to Section 300 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law 2019, and punishable under Section 301 of the same Law”.
Upon arraignment, the defendant pleaded guilty to all the 12 counts charges preferred against her, prompting EFCC’s coiunsel, Kufre Ekpeyoung to pray the court to convict him accordingly. Defence counsel, Hamza Liman pleaded for a lighter sentence for his client “in view of the fact that he is a first-time offender”.
Justice Dogondaji thereafter convicted and sentenced Abubakar Ahmad Abubakar to 87 years imprisonment with an option of fine of N200,000 on each count totalling N2,400.000.
He also ordered restitution of N225,661,000 to all the petitioners, through the EFCC.
Ahmad’s journey to the Correctional centre began when he was arrested by operatives of the Sokoto Zonal Command of the EFCC for defrauding 12 different persons various sums of money under the guise of investments in his purported bureau de change business which investigations proved to be false.
Investigations further revealed that Ahmad promised his victims between 50% to 100% interests on their investments monthly. He neither offered them any return on their investment nor refunded their money to them.
In a related development, Justice R. A. Osodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos has convicted and sentenced a businessman, Kolawole Erinle, to 12 years imprisonment for $1.4m fraud.
Erinle and his company, Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited were first arraigned before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on March 11, 2022.
Though he pleaded “not guilty”, the trial could not be concluded before the retirement of Justice Taiwo, thereby prompting the re-assignment of the case to Justice Oshodi.
He was subsequently re-arraigned on October 28, 2022 before Justice Oshodi on three-count charges bordering on conspiracy, retention of proceeds of criminal conduct, and obtaining money under false pretence to the tune of $1,410,000.
One of the charges reads: “Kolawole Adedayo Erinle and Edward Dada (still at large), sometime in 2019, at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired to falsely represent yourselves as J.E. Dunn, a local construction company in America, with intent to gain monetary advantage in the sum of $1,410,000 (One Million Four-Hundred and Ten Thousand United States Dollars) by creating a fake domain name jedunn.org and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act No 14, 2006.”
Another count reads: “Kolawole Adedayo Erinle, Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited and Edward Dada (still at large) on or about the 3rd day of May 2019, at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, retain the control of $1,410,000 (One Million Four-Hundred and Ten Thousand United States Dollars) in your Access Bank account, which sum you knew to be proceeds of various internet and cybercrime.”
He, again, pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
In the course of the trial, prosecution counsel, T.J. Banjo called four witnesses, through whom several documentary evidence were presented to prove the case against him and his company.
The prosecution also presented evidence to prove that Erinle was an ex-convict in the United States, US, for bank fraud.
Justice Oshodi had, on February 10, 2023, revoked the bail earlier granted to the defendant, following an application by the prosecution showing that he never perfected the bail conditions granted earlier by Justice Taiwo.
After the prosecution had closed its case, Erinle took to the dock to defend himself.
Led in evidence by his counsel, Lawal Pedro, SAN, he denied the allegations brought against him by the prosecution.
Under cross-examination by the prosecution, he admitted that he was indeed an ex-convict in the US, and spent 23 months in prison. He also expressed a change of mind to restitute his victim, saying, “I am sorry”.
Delivering judgment on September 26, 2023, Justice Oshodi declared the defendant and his company guilty as charged, and also held that the prosecution effectively proved the case against them beyond every reasonable doubt.
Justice Oshodi held that, as argued by the prosecution, Erinle, “spoofed the email address of the financial controller of J.E. Dunn, by faking the domain name of jedunn.com to jedunn.org“, an act which was “premeditated”, so that “when KCUMB was about to pay J.E. Dunn, you provided Bank of America details in the name of E. Dada Autos, and after the wire transfer of $1,412,509.40 into it, in March 2019, you caused the money to be transferred in tranches of $850,000 and $460,000 into the second convict’s account, which you also control”.
The trial judge further held that “The evidence shows that you transferred the proceeds of your crime to your nominees, including your mother, and your wife, and also acquired vehicles and other properties captured in exhibit P to P1.
“I have considered the prosecution’s submissions that you have a prior conviction for bank fraud in the United States of America, US.
“I have considered the fact that notwithstanding your prison term, which you have confirmed to me as sentencing for 23 months, you have not changed.
“I have considered the preceding as aggravating factors. You also told me that you are sorry, but I do not believe that you are genuinely remorseful, but you have said it.”
Thereafter, Justice Oshodi sentenced him to five years on count two, and 12 years on count three. The sentences are to run concurrently from February 10, 2023 when he was remanded by the court.
The company, Rinde-Remdex Nigeria Limited, was fined N50 million, and also ordered to be wound up by the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, with the proceeds forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The convicts were also ordered to make restitution to the victim.
The Judge further ordered that all the properties and vehicles recovered from them by the EFCC be sold and applied as restitution to the victim through the FBI.
The funds standing to his credit as recovered by the EFCC, and the company, the court added, “shall be applied as restitution for the victim by the FBI; this is without prejudice for the prosecution and the victim to secure a full restitution.”
Erinle’s journey to the Correctional centre started when he was arraigned on three-count charges bordering on defrauding the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, KCUMB, in the United States of about $1,412,509.
The matter went into full trial and he was convicted.
