Friday, March 14, 2025 -The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a couple identified as Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq and Hafsat Kabir Lawal, alongside two others, Abdullahi Bala and Ladani Akindele, before Justice Amina Bello of the Kaduna State High Court for allegedly obtaining money by false pretense, money laundering and stealing to the tune of N197,750,000.
They were arraigned on six-count charges on Monday, March 10, 2025.
Specifically, the defendants allegedly colluded among themselves and
defrauded their victims through different guises, including impersonating the
wife of the governor of Katsina State, Fatima Dikko Radda.
The defendants were initially arrested by officers of the Department of
State Services (DSS) and subsequently transferred to the EFCC when it was clear
that their offences were financial crimes in nature.
One of the charges reads
“That you Hafsat Kabir Lawal, Babasule Abubakar Sadiq, Abdullahi Bala,
Ladani Akindele Ayodele sometimes in December 2024 at Kaduna within the
jurisdiction of this honorable court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum
of N89,000,000.00 Eighty Nine Million Naira Only from Aminu Usman which money
you caused to be paid in to the Taj Bank plc account number 0009914725 belonging to
Abdullahi Bala under the false pretense that you had the sum of $53,300 Fifty
three thousand Three Hundred United State Dollars to exchange for the Naira
equivalent which pretense you knew to be false and you thereby committed an
offence contrary to Section 1 (1) of the advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud
Related Offences Act 2006 punishment under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to
them.
In view of their pleas, prosecution counsel, Bright C. Ogbonna prayed
the court for a trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in a
correctional facility.
Counsel to the 1st and 2nd defendants, M.S Katu, SAN; counsel to the 3rd
defendant, Jazuli Mustapha, and counsel to the 4th defendant, Paul A. Okachi,
informed the court that they had filed and served their various applications
for the bail of their clients and that they were ready to proceed.
Ogbonna vehemently opposed the bail applications on the ground that they
were not ripe for hearing. In response, all the defense counsels prayed the
court to allow for an oral application for bail.
After listening to the submissions and arguments made by both parties,
Justice Bello agreed with the prosecution and consequently remanded the
defendants in a Correctional facility and adjourned the matter till March 17,
2025, for hearing of bail applications.
EFCC in a statement released said investigations showed that Hafsat
contacted the petitioners as one of the wives of the current governor of
Katsina State, Malam Dikko Radda. Using that guise, she allegedly obtained the
sum of N89,000,000 and another N108,000,000 from a petitioner claiming to have
$118,300 to sell to them in exchange.
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