EFCC arraigns fake NNPCL director for N100 Million fraud in Kaduna
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Ibrahim Nuhu Shuaibu before Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court on charges related to a N100 million fraud.
The Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the EFCC is prosecuting Shuaibu on a seven-count charge, including criminal breach of trust, impersonation, and obtaining money by false pretence.
According to the charges, Shuaibu, who also goes by the alias Ishaku Abdulrazak, conspired with a now-deceased accomplice, Illya Garba, to defraud individuals by posing as a high-ranking official of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). The indictment alleges that Shuaibu deceived his victims by pretending to be the Group Executive Director of NNPCL, a claim he used to swindle money under the false promise of supplying petroleum products.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Nuhu Ibrahim Shuaibu (a.k.a Ishaku Abdulrazak) and Illya Garba (now deceased), sometime in 2017 in Kaduna, within the judicial division of this honourable court, did conspire to commit an illegal act, to wit: obtaining money under false pretence, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Another count states: “That you, Nuhu Ibrahim Shuaibu (a.k.a Ishaku Abdulrazak), sometime in 2018 in Kaduna, within the judicial division of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N47,050,000.00 (Forty-Seven Million and Fifty Thousand Naira) from one Faisal Safiyanu under the false pretense of supplying petroleum products, which you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Shuaibu pleaded not guilty to all charges. The prosecution counsel, M. Lawal, requested a trial date, while Shuaibu’s counsel, AbdulKareem Audu, failed to file a bail application. Consequently, Justice Khobo ordered that Shuaibu be remanded in EFCC custody.
The case stems from events in 2017, when Shuaibu, posing as an NNPCL executive, allegedly convinced his victim to transfer funds for the procurement of over 2,000 litres of petroleum products. Despite receiving payment, Shuaibu failed to deliver the goods or refund the victim’s money, leading to his eventual arrest and prosecution by the EFCC.
