Borno: Man bag jail term for N19.6m fraud in Maiduguri

Justice Muhammad Maina of the Borno State High Court in Maiduguri has convicted one Ahmed Saleh Mubi to one-year imprisonment for criminal misappropriation involving N19,691,200.

Mubi had been arraigned on September 19, 2024, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a one-count charge.

The count accused him of dishonestly misappropriating the sum of N19,691,200 between December 2019 and March 2020.

Mubi had collected the money and 14 motorcycles from Abdulkarim Mohammed Saleh in an arrangement to sell CFA 45,200 and remit the proceeds. However, Mubi neither returned the money nor the motorcycles.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Mukhtar Ali Ahmed and Faruku Muhammad, presented three witnesses and submitted several exhibits. Despite pleading not guilty, the court found Mubi guilty and sentenced him to one year imprisonment or an option to pay a fine of N100,000.

The lone count reads: “That you Ahmed Saleh Mubi, between December, 2019 to March 2020 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court offered to sell CFA 45,200.00 to one Abdulkarim Mohammed Saleh, at the cost of N20,975,200.00 and you collected 14 Motorcycles valued at N324,000.00 from the said Abdulkarim Mohammed Saleh for you to sell and remit the proceed to him, did dishonestly misappropriated the sum of N19,691, 200.00 (Nineteen Million, Six Hundred and Ninety-One Thousand, Two Hundred Naira), only and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 and punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Laws of Borno State Cap.102 Vol.3 of 1994 respectively.”