The Kano State High Court has sentenced a man, Bulama Abdulrahman, to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine for posing as an auctioneer authorised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to sell forfeited properties.
Abdulrahman was convicted on two counts of intent to defraud and obtaining money under false pretences to the tune of N35million.
Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano State High Court handed down the verdict after the defendant stood trial.
According to court records, Abdulrahman, in June 2023, deceived one Safiyanu Abdullahi of Tauraro and Property Limited into paying N20 million for a purported auction of a fenced, uncompleted building at Rijiyar Zaki, Kano.
He falsely claimed to have EFCC’s authorization, violating Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act, 2006.
However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the two- count charges when they were read to him.
Following the defendant’s plea, prosecution counsel Musa Isah proceeded with a full trial, presenting three witnesses, while the defendant testified in his own defence.
After reviewing the evidence, Justice Saminu found the defendant guilty on count two but acquitted him on count one. Isah then urged the court to convict accordingly.
The defence counsel pleaded for leniency, noting that the defendant is a PhD student at the Nasarawa State University.
However, Justice Saminu sentenced him to seven years in prison without an option of fine.
Meanwhile, the judge ordered the defendant to pay N35,000,000 in restitution to the victim. Failure to do so would result in an additional seven-year prison term.
Bulama’s legal trouble began when the Commission received a petition accusing him of posing as an EFCC-appointed auctioneer to sell forfeited properties.
He allegedly defrauded victims of N35,000,000 by falsely offering them a truck and an uncompleted building in Kano.
A repeat offender, Bulama had previously been convicted by the Kano State High Court on June 28, 2021, for a similar fraud case involving obtaining money under false pretences.