Ex-banker jailed 17 years for fraud, asked to restitute N93m

One Rabiu Alhasan Dawaki, a former banker, has been sentenced to prison for 17 years and asked to restitute N93 million.

Justice Dije Abdu Aboki of the Kano State High Court gave the judgment on November 23 while ruling on charges of conspiracy and criminal breach of trust levelled against the convict by the Kano zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The commission arraigned Dawaki alongside two others, Abdullahi Umar Rano and Samuel Obende, who are now deceased on a 28 count charge.

The three defendants, all former employees of an old generation bank, were responsible for receiving, processing and distributing of money to all their bank’s cash centres across Kano, Katsina and Jigawa states.

They however betrayed the trust of their employers and conspired among themselves to defraud the bank by diverting the funds to their own use.

The convict alongside his co-defendants were said to have altered figures to show that they made cash deliveries to designated branches whereas the monies were never delivered.

Upon arraignment on February 26, 2015, Dawaki and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, thereby setting the stage for full trial.

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During the course of the trial, Dawaki’s co-defendants died and their names were subsequently removed from the charge.

Ruling on the matter on Monday, Justice Aboki found the defendant guilty on seven counts of the charge and convicted him accordingly. She however acquitted him on twenty one counts.

The judge convicted him on count 1 which borders on conspiracy count 2,11,22,24,25 and 26 all of which borders on criminal breach of trust.

On count 1, 11,22,24,25 and 26 the convict was sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of N200,000 only on each. On count two however, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and a fine of N200,000 only.

The court added that the sentence on count two and 11 are to run consecutively while counts 1,22,24,25,26 are to run concurrently.

Justice Aboki ordered that the convict restitute all the sums of money involved in the counts he was convicted of which amounted to N93.

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