Man bags 10 years jail for N10.4m fraud

A Gombe State High Court, yesterday, convicted and sentenced one Abdullahi Usman to 10 years imprisonment after being found guilty of fraud to the tune of N10.4 million. The convict was dragged to the court by Gombe Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over one-count charge of obtaining goods by false […]

A Gombe State High Court, yesterday, convicted and sentenced one Abdullahi Usman to 10 years imprisonment after being found guilty of fraud to the tune of N10.4 million.

The convict was dragged to the court by Gombe Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over one-count charge of obtaining goods by false pretense.

Usman, an Adamawa State indigene, was first arraigned before Justice Abubakar Jauro by the EFCC in June 2018 following his arrest at Alkaleri LGA of Bauchi State while fleeing with the goods after he defrauded owners of Fusaha Stores in Gombe.

The court was told that the convict approached the stores sometime in 2018, where he convinced the owners under the pretense of purchasing goods which included ready-made clothes, wrappers, native caps, assorted perfumes, shoes, wrist watches, recharge cards, handsets and $5000 cash, totaling N10,435,000.

He pleaded not guilty and the EFCC counsel, Barrister A.Y. Muntaka, presented five witnesses and tendered all the relevant documents to prove the case.

The convict who had jumped bail granted him by the court, was tried in absentia following an application from the prosecution.

In his verdict, Justice Jauro convicted the defendant to 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine from the date of his arrest. He ordered all the items which were recovered intact to be returned to the owners.