Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin has sentenced Yakubu Aminu to 200 hours of community service for operating a bureau de change business without a valid license.
In a related case, Justice Hammed Gegele of the Kwara State High Court sentenced Abdullahi Abdulrasaq Omotosho and Akeem Ibrahim Salaudeen to prison for their involvement in internet fraud.
The Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned all three individuals on separate charges on October 9.
The charge against Yakubu reads: “That you, Yakubu Aminu sometime in July 2024, at Chikanda Market, Yashikira District, Baruten Local Government Area, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did carry on, other financial business, to wit: Bureau De Change Business without a valid licence issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria contrary to Section 15 (5) of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020 and punishable under Section 57 (5) (B) of the same Act.”
The charge against Akeem reads: “That you, Akeem Ibrahim Salaudeen between 3rd December 2018 and 8th November 2024, in Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of Honourable Court, did knowingly had under your control the sum of N4,069,000.00 (Four Million, Sixty Nine Thousand Naira Only) in your bank account number 2104916025 with the name Akeem Ibrahim Salaudeen with the United Bank of Africa Plc which you knew to be proceeds of criminal conduct and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319 (a) of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria.”
The defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were presented to them.
Following their pleas, the court convicted and sentenced them to various prison terms, based on the strength of the prosecution’s unchallenged evidence and the credibility of the cases brought before it.
Justice Awogboro also ordered that the sum of 50,000 CFA and N368,500, which were recovered from Aminu at the time of his arrest, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Similarly, Justice Gegele sentenced Akeem and Abdullahi to six months imprisonment each, with the option of a N150,000 fine.
Additionally, the court ordered the forfeiture of N4,069,000 recovered from Akeem, along with his iPhone 11, as well as $600 and an iPhone 11 Pro Max recovered from Abdullahi.
The convicts received their sentences following their arrest for internet-related fraud. They were investigated, charged, and subsequently convicted.
