EFCC Secure 3 Years Jail Term Against Serial Fraudster

BY Ejike Ejike

— Jan 17, 2017 7:24 pm | Leave a comment

Justice Binta Fatima Isah of the Kaduna State High Court sitting in Zaria, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced one Jehu Kwasu to three years imprisonment without option of fine on a two count charge of forgery and obtaining by false
pretence.

Accordin to the EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement, the convict’s journey to prison started when the commission received a petition from one Chief Okafor,  Chairman of Chikason Group of Companies, alleging that the convict impersonated one Bishop Josiah Fearon and obtained the sum of N5,000,000 from him under the pretext that the funds would be used to help the 2011 post election violence victims in Kaduna.

Upon his arraignment, the convict was granted bail by the court but he violated the bail terms and absconded.

The convict was eventually brought back to the commission by his sureties and subsequently presented before the court.

Again,  he was again granted bail. Just as it happened in the first instance, he jumped and disappeared. It took the intervention of the  Nigeria Police that arrested him for attempting to defraud a former governor of Abia State while posing as the respected Catholic priest, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah , to bring him to justice.

 In yesterday’s proceeding, the convict changed his plea from ‘not guilty’ to ‘guilty’.

In view of his new plea, counsel for the prosecution, B. M Buhari, urged the court to convict him accordingly.

Justice Binta convicted Kwasu and sentenced him to two years imprisonment for the offence of obtaining by false pretence and one year imprisonment for the offence of forgery. The sentence is to run concurrently. The convict was also ordered to restitute the sum of N5, 000,000 to the complainant.

In a related development, Justice Idrissa Kolo of the Federal High Court Kano yesterday,  convicted and sentenced one Christopher Ngene to nine years imprisonment without option of fine on three counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence.

The convict fraudulently induced the complainant through a phone call to part with the sum of N200, 000  on the pretext that the money would be used to purchase solar panel.