The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, July 4, 2017
arraigned one Muhammadu Umar before Justice M. T. Salihu of the Federal High
Court, Maiduguri on a 3-count charge of fraud to the tune of N4million.
Umar,
an assistant director with the National Examination Council, NECO, allegedly approached
the proprietor of Success Private School claiming that he had the instruction
of his employer (NECO) to collect NECO SSCE registration fees of students in
the school.
Without
doubt, the proprietor knowing that the money if not remitted could lead to non-participation
of candidates from the school did as Umar requested.
Count
one reads:
“That
you, MUHAMMADU UMARU, between January 2015 and February, 2016 at Maiduguri,
Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to
defraud, induced one Pastor Kofi George Gyimah, the Proprietor of Success
Private Schools, Maiduguri, to deliver to you the sum of Three Million, Seven
Hundred and Twenty-Two Thousand, Four Hundred Naira (3,722.400.00) only via
your Zenith Bank (personal) Current Account No. 1002064892 under the false
pretence that you were authorized to receive same for and on behalf of National
Examination Council (NECO) being payments for June/July 2015 Senior School
Certificate Examination (SSCE) Registration Fees and thereby committed an
offence contrary and punishable under Section 1(1)(b) and 1(3) of the Advance
Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 respectively”.
The
accused person pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Counsel
to EFCC, Haruna Abdulkadir prayed the court to fix a date for trial and to
remand the accused person in the prison custody.
However,
the defendant’s counsel, B. K. Alhaji, through an oral application prayed the
court to admit his client to bail.
Justice
Salihu ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison custody pending hearing
of the bail application on July 6, 2017.
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