Businessman jailed 6 years for N20m fraud

Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna High Court on Tuesday sentenced a businessman Mohammed Rabiu, to six years imprisonment for N20million fraud.

The Kaduna Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Rabiu with fraud.

The judge sentenced Rabiu after he had pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for leniency

Darius who did not give the convict an option of a fine, held that sentence should run concurrently.

He also ordered the convict to restitute N20million to the complainant, Jamil Hassan

He added that in the event that the convict failed to pay the amount,  he shall serve an additional one-year prison term.

Earlier, the EFCC Counsel, E.K. Garba told the court that sometime in 2020 the convict deceived  Abubakar Sani into giving him N20m to start up a car business and promised to pay back in one year.

He said that the defendant collected the money, converted it to his personal use, and various efforts made by the complainant to get his money back failed.

The prosecution said that the offense contravened the provisions of sections 271 and 309 of the Kaduna State Penal Code, 2017.