The Bauchi State High Court has convicted one Ibrahim Abubakar for defrauding a victim of over N2.25 million under the pretext of helping him to secure a non-existing TETFund job.
According to a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday, Mr Abubakar from whom N2.25 million he took from the victim has been recovered, was jailed three years with an option of fine.
The judge, M.M Abubarkar, passed the judgement after the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating.
EFCC had accused him of defrauding a job seeker of N2.25 million under the guise of helping him to secure an employment at the Tertiary Education Trust Fund ( TETFUND).
Mr Abubakar, also known as ‘Alhaji Sadiq Babati’, was charged with two counts of criminal conspiracy and defrauding of N2, 250,000, offences said to be punishable under Sections 97 and 322 of the Penal Code Law, according to the EFCC’s statement.
EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, who signed the commission’s statement, said the defendant was arraigned alongside Hassan Lemaji (now convicted) on September 27, 2021, when he initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but later changed his plea to guilty in the course of the trial.
Following the review of facts of the case by the prosecution, and the court’s assessment of the available evidence, the court found Mr Abubakar guilty of the two-count charge.
He directed that the N2,250,000 seized by the EFCC from the convict be paid to the victim.
‘How fraud was perpetrated’
Mr Abubakar was said to have defrauded his victim under the pretext of helping him to get a job at the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in Abuja.
According to the EFCC, he took a total sum of N2,250,000 from the victim between March and April 2019.
The victim then petitioned the EFCC.
Investigations, carried out by the Gombe Zonal Command of the EFCC, according to EFCC’s statement, confirmed the petitioner’s complaints.
EFCC said it discovered that “as soon as the defendant received the money, he started avoiding calls from the petitioner who waited for eleven months for the non-existent employment letter.”
