EFCC Nabs Fake Contractor, Charges Suspect With ₦111m Fraud In Kaduna

The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned one Bashir Bello Ibrahim, a former Kaduna State government contractor and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Formal Act Legacy Limited before Justice A. M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court, sitting in Kaduna for fraud.

He was arraigned on a seven-count charge, bordering on obtaining money by false pretences, advance fee fraud, and money laundering.

One of the charges reads: “That you Bashir Ibrahim Bello (being Managing Director of Formal Act Legacy Limited) and Formal Act Legacy Limited sometime in the month of July, 2024 at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria conspired between yourselves to commit a felony, to wit: obtaining the sum of N37,300,000 (Thirty Seven Million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira only) under false pretence, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and Punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

Another reads: “That you Bashir Ibrahim Bello ( being Managing Director of Formal Act Legacy Limited) and Formal Act Legacy Limited sometime in the month of July, 2024 at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria conspired to commit an offence to wit: money laundering and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering ( Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) & (4) of the same Act.”

He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him and based on his plea, prosecuting counsel, Fortune Amina I. Asemebo asked the court for a trial date, while the defence counsel M. T. Mohammed moved a motion for the hearing of the defendant’s bail application. The court, however, could not entertain the bail application.

Justice Aikawa ordered for the remand of the defendant in a Correctional Centre, pending the hearing of his bail application.

The petitioner in the matter had alleged that he was introduced to the defendant by three persons, Josephine Washima, Mamuda Nyelong and Nalara Tanimu, sometime in 2024, who paraded themselves as contract facilitators and that they convinced him that the defendant would award him contracts for the construction of solar-powered boreholes which will be installed in different locations across the North Eastern region of the country in his capacity as the United Nations Sub-African regional coordinator.

The petitioner said they made him pay the sum of over N37,300,000 (Thirty Seven Million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira ) in the guise of a facilitation fee. He paid the money into the bank account of Washima, for which five notification letters of award of contracts for the drilling of 20 solar-powered boreholes were given to him.

He further alleged that he executed one slot of the contract consisting four solar-powered boreholes behind Specialist School, Sabon Abuja Jahun, Nurses Quarters and Water Board Quarters, all in Karin Madaki, Bauchi State and was not paid but later realised that the contract was a fraud for which he had to petition the EFCC.