Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano State High Court on Friday convicted one Chidi Okafor and sentenced him to one year imprisonment for fraud.
Okafor was arraigned on a one-count amended charge of criminal breach of trust to the tune of N3,135,000 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following a petition alleging that he collected the sum under the guise of executing a contract with 100 per cent profit guarantee, but after the money was paid into his account, he absconded and refused to answer his phone calls.
The charge against him read: “That you Chidi Okafor, sometime in January 2019 at Kano, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court did dishonestly convert the sum of N3,135,000 (Three Million, One Hundred and Thirty-five Thousand Naira) only via an account Number 0027684407, bearing Chidi Okafor, domiciled in Access Bank Plc, property of Okoye Nnemeka and that the said sum will be used to execute a contract with Setraco Construction Company Limited, a pretext which you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 311 and punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Code.”
The convict pleaded guilty to the charge and the prosecution counsel, Zarami Mohammed, asked the court to convict him accordingly and order him to restitute the said sum to his victim.
Defence counsel, B.O Osuji, did not object to the application but prayed the court for leniency, pleading that his client was remorseful and had already started efforts to pay the victim.
Justice Saminu therefore sentence the convict with an option of N100,000 fine and ordered him to pay the sum of N2,700,000 to the victim, being the outstanding sum from the proceeds of the crime.
The judge added that, in the event of the convict’s failure to pay back the sum, he would serve an additional two-year jail term.