The Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday arraigned one Bukar Umar Alhaji before Justice Muhammad Maina of the Borno State High Court in Maiduguri.
The defendant was charged with two counts of obtaining by false pretense and criminal misappropriation involving N2,100,000.
According to the EFCC, the defendant, alongside an accomplice identified as Babagoni Umar (now at large), allegedly defrauded one Ibrahim Ismail in March 2022 under the pretext of selling two plots of land in Mafa Local Government Area of Borno State.
The prosecution stated that the land in question did not belong to the defendant.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.
Charges Against the Defendant
One of the charges reads:
“That you, Bukar Umar Alhaji, with National Identification Number (NIN) 9584243514, and Babagoni Umar (now at large), sometime in March 2022, in Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did with intent to defraud obtain the gross sum of N2,100,000.00 from Ibrahim Ismail under the guise that the said money is for the sale of two plots of land situated at Mafa Local Government Area, Borno State, the land which you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a)&(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2005, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Court Ruling
Following the defendant’s plea, counsel to the EFCC, Faruk Muhammad, requested a trial date and the remand of the defendant in prison custody.
Justice Maina granted the request and adjourned the case to December 4, 2023, for the commencement of trial. The defendant was remanded in the Maiduguri Maximum Correctional Facility.
The EFCC alleged that the defendant sold land he did not own and failed to refund the payment made by the victim. His legal troubles began when he refused to return the funds after the fraudulent transaction.
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