Fake Bureau De Change Operator Bags 87 Years for N325m Fraud In Sokoto

One Ahmad Abubakar Ahmad posing as a Bureau de Change operator, has been sentenced 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 by Justice Malami Dogondaji of the Sokoto State High Court after pleading guilty to 12-count charges bordering on criminal breach of trust and obtaining by false pretence.

Ahmad began his journey into the correctional centre 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.

Investigations by the Commission revealed that he promised his victims between 50% to 100% interests on their investments monthly.

According to EFCC, further investigations showed he neither offered the victims any return on their investment nor refunded their money to them.

He was then arraigned in court and pleaded guilty to all the 12 count charges preferred against him, this prompted EFCC’s counsel, Kufre Ekpeyoung to ask the court to convict him accordingly.

However, the defence counsel, Hamza Liman pleaded for a lighter sentence for his client seeing that he was a first-time offender.

Justice Dogondaji thereafter convicted and sentenced Abubakar to 87 years imprisonment with an option of fine of N200,000.00 on each count totalling N2,400.000.00.

He was also ordered to restitute N225,661,000 to all the petitioners, through the EFCC.

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 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 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”.