Court jails three fraudsters for currency racketeering in Kwara

Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State has convicted and sentenced three currency racketeers to various jail terms for selling new naira notes to the public for commercial purposes.

In a statement by the convicts are: Asmau Sallah Wuraola, Owoduni Abdullahi Isa (a.k.a Bolaji) and Shuaibu Rukayat.

They were jailed on Monday, March 4, 2024, after pleading guilty to one-count separate charges upon being arraigned by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The charge against Wuraola reads:
“That you, ASMAU SALAH WURAOLA, on February 17, 2024, at Arca Santa Event Centre in Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, did trade in Naira notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21 (4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, 2007 and punishable under Section 21 (1) of the same Act”

The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges when they were read to them.

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Following the pleas of the defendants, prosecuting counsel, Innocent Mbachie, reviewed the facts of the cases and tendered as evidence new naira notes recovered from them at the point of arrest. They were all admitted in evidence. He further prayed the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.

Delivering judgment, Justice Anyadike pronounced the defendants guilty and sentenced them to various jail terms. She sentenced Wuraola to two months imprisonment with an option of fine of N50,000. The court ordered that the sum of N1,020,000 recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government while the POS machine recovered at the point of arrest be destroyed by the EFCC.

Isa, on the other hand, was sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N50,000 while the sum of N150,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.

The judge also sentenced Rukayat to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N50,000 while the sum of N200,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.