A Federal High Court sitting in Kano state on
Tuesday, convicted and sentenced two men,
Mohammed Mansur and Mohammed Auwal, to
21 years imprisonment after they pleaded guilty
to three counts of conspiracy and obtaining
money by false pretences preferred against them
by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission.
The commission said in a statement on Tuesday
by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, that the
convicts were arraigned on July 9, 2013 for
conspiracy and an attempt to defraud one Alhaji
Auwal Ayagi under the guise of procuring plots of
land from him for Visafone Communications
Limited.
According to the charge, they had claimed to be
agents of Visafone Communications Limited,
located at Zoo Road, Kano outlet, and had been
assigned by their company to help purchase plots
of land from the complainant.
The deal was to be worth N30m, for which the
duo demanded that 10 per cent be paid into their
bank accounts as commission. Upon arraignment
they pleaded not guilty but, in the course of trial,
after the prosecution had called one witness, the
two men dramatically changed their plea and
owned up to their crime.
Consequently, the prosecuting counsel, Idris
Haruna, urged the court to convict them
accordingly.
“Justice Fatu Riman of the Federal High Court
Kano consequently convicted the accused
persons and sentenced them to 21 years
imprisonment each without the option of fine.
The sentence of the first convict who has been in
prison custody since arraignment for failure to
meet his bail terms is to start from the date of
arraignment,” the statement read.