Court jails woman 8 months for cheating

A Kado Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Friday sentenced a 44-year-old woman, Veronica Anum, to eight months imprisonment for criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The presiding judge, Alhaji Ahmed Ado, however, gave him an option to pay a fine of N4,000 and warned him to desist from committing crimes.

Ado said the sentence would serve as deterrent to other would be offenders.

He also ordered her to pay N29,000 as compensation to the nominal complainant.

Anum, an apprentice and resident of Global Estate, Abuja, was convicted on a two-count charge.

The convict begged the court to temper justice with mercy because she did not know that the person did not send the money.

Prosecutor Zannah Dalhatu had told the court that Chika Abia of Karmo, Abuja, reported the matter at the Life Camp Police Station, Abuja, on March 2.

Dalhatu said that the complainant told the police that the convict on Dec. 13, 2016 approached him for his account details to enable her friend send her money.

He later got an alert of N29,000 and he transferred the money to another bank account she sent to him, he later received a call from his sister outside the country that she sent N29,000.

Also that the money was to be given to their mother to buy drugs.

Dalhatu said that all efforts made to recover the money proved abortive.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.