The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Kaduna Zonal Office has arraigned one Tasiu Abubakar before Justice Mohammed Tukur of the state’s High Court sitting in Kaduna on a three-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust to the tune of N 4,645,500 (Four Million Six Hundred and Forty-Five Thousand Five Hundred Naira).
Tasiu’s problem began when one Abdulrazak Yusuf petitioned the EFCC alleging that the defendant told him that he had an allocation from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Kaduna Depot in regard to CCC Construction Nigeria Limited and the complainant should pay for the allocation and the product will be loaded in a week time.
The complainant deposited the sum of N4,645,500 into Tasiu’s bank account, for the purpose of lifting the said product at the NNPC Depot, Kaduna.
He further alleged that the suspect subsequently gave him a bank teller and payment receipt as evidences of the payment, but on reaching the NNPC account office in Kaduna depot it was discovered that there was no such payment in their system.
Count one reads: “That you, Tasiu Abubakar, sometime in April 2018 in Kaduna within the Judicial Division of the High Court with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N4,645,500 from Yusuf Abdulrazak under the false pretence that you have allocation for Bitumen from NNPC Kaduna depot, a pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offence Act 2006 and Punishable under Section 1(3) of the Same Act.”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the charge when it was read to him.
Prosecuting counsel, Onyeka Ekweozor, therefore urged the court to fix a date for commencement of trial while the defendant be remanded in prison pending trial.
Defence counsel, A.H. Maigauta, however, prayed the Court to grant his client bail.
Justice Tukur in his ruling ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison pending the perfection of bail application while fixing June 26, 2019 for trial.
