Kano court jails bank staff five years for ₦22.35m investment fraud
The Kano Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction and sentencing of Janet Theophilus Danjuma to five years’ imprisonment for defrauding an investor of ₦22.35 million.
Danjuma was convicted on Monday by Justice S. M. Shuaibu of the Federal High Court, after pleading guilty to a one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence.
According to the charge, Danjuma, a staff member of Taj Bank Limited, Nai’bawa Branch in Kano, fraudulently obtained the sum of ₦22,350,000 from Wade Bamaiyi in October 2024. She claimed the money would be invested in the bank’s CASA (Current Account Savings Account) programme, a representation prosecutors said she knew to be false.
The offence contravened Section 1(1)(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and is punishable under Section 1(3) of the same law.
Upon her arraignment, Danjuma pleaded guilty. The prosecution counsel, Sadiq Huseini, reviewed the facts of the case, explaining that the defendant exploited the name of a legitimate banking product to gain the victim’s trust. He urged the court to convict and sentence her in line with the law.
Delivering judgment, Justice Shuaibu convicted Danjuma and sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.
Investigations by the EFCC revealed that the funds were not invested as claimed but were traced to the defendant’s personal bank account. She was subsequently charged to court and convicted.
