Justice Ibrahim Mairiga of the Kebbi
State High Court has convicted Suleiman Ibrahim Musa, Bilyaminu Usman and Lawal
Suleiman on a 16-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, theft and
criminal breach of trust brought against them by the Economics and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC and sentenced them to 91 years in prison.
The convicts, who are former members of
staff of FinBank Plc (acquired by First City Monument Bank Plc in 2011), Birnin-Kebbi
branch in Kebbi State, were first arraigned on July 21, 2010, and had pleaded
not guilty to the charges.
Musa, who was then the head of
operations, defrauded the bank of N101, 707,000; Usman and Suleiman, both
tellers connived to defraud the bank of N6, 627,500 and N6, 267,500
respectively. The crimes were committed between 2008 and 2010. They had at
different times debited the bank’s customers by carrying out unauthorized
withdrawals.
They were arrested by EFCC operatives
following a petition by the bank’s management, after several customers lodged
complaints alleging fraudulent deductions from their bank accounts. They had
backed up their claims with various documentary evidences - stamped deposits
and investment certificates.
After five years of trial, Justice
Mairiga, having been convinced by the evidence brought before him by the
prosecuting counsel, Aisha Habib, found them guilty of the charges.
“By considering the amount involved and
weight of evidence presented before the court by the prosecution, which was
never challenged by the defence, it shows that their wrongful act caused a
great injury to the bank,” the judge said. “I therefore, find the accused
persons guilty as charged, and so convict and sentence them to 55 years, seven
years and 29 years imprisonment respectively without an option of fine, with
the jail term to serve concurrently”, the judge ruled.
The judge also ordered the convicts to return
the stolen money to the bank.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
6th August, 2015
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