Eight young men have been put behind bars in Kaduna after being found guilty of a string of internet fraud and bank-related crimes.
Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Kaduna handed down the sentences following successful prosecutions by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The convicted individuals are Abdulrasheed Dayyabu, Abdulrahman Salim, Abubakar Ali Uba, Falalu Tanko, Ishaq Haruna, Muhammad Faisal, Muhammad Sani Ahmed, and Hassan Umar.
Each defendant faced a separate one-count charge, ranging from identity theft and money laundering to illegal fund retention and fraudulent online transfers.
One of the charges read in court stated “That you, Abdulrasheed Dayyabu, sometime in the year 2024, at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, did aid one Buhari to commit an offence, to wit: retention of proceeds of criminal conduct and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 20(b) of the same Act.”
Another charge against Falalu Tanko alleged: “That you, Falalu Tanko, sometime in June, 2025 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court retained the total sum of $3,000 which you knew formed part of proceeds of an unlawful act, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”
All eight men pleaded guilty.
After presenting the facts of the case, EFCC counsel Fortune Amina Iminabo Asemebo urged the court to deliver judgment in line with the pleas and applicable laws.
Justice Aikawa did just that.
Abdulrasheed Dayyabu received a four-year sentence, with an option of a N100,000 fine. The court also ordered him to forfeit N300,000, identified as proceeds of crime, to the federal government.
Others; Abubakar Ali Uba, Abdulrahman Salim, Ishaq Haruna, Muhammad Faisal, Muhammad Sani Ahmed, and Hassan Umar were each sentenced to four years behind bars or a N200,000 fine.
In addition, the judge ordered the recovery of their illicit earnings: Uba forfeited N500,000; Salim, N720,000; Haruna, N200,000; Faisal, N1.1 million; Ahmed, N1.2 million; and Umar, N170,000.
For Falalu Tanko, whose crimes were traced to online scams, the punishment was a three-year sentence with the option of a N300,000 fine.
More significantly, the court confiscated his BMW 3 Series (2008 model) and an iPhone 13 Pro, both deemed proceeds and instruments of his fraudulent activity.
According to EFCC investigations, seven of the convicts were apprehended following a petition from TAJ Bank.
The bank had discovered a massive fraud on its agency banking platform, where over N1bn was illegally siphoned through coordinated transfers to multiple bank and fintech accounts.
Falalu Tanko, meanwhile, was caught in the Babar Saura area of Kaduna following intelligence that linked him to digital scams.
The EFCC said it would continue to crack down on cybercrime and financial fraud, warning that the agency’s digital forensics and intelligence network are growing stronger by the day.
