Borno court jails ex-Jaiz Bank staff over N1.5m fraud

Andrew Orolua, Abuja

Justice Fadawu Umar of the Borno state High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, has sentenced Imam Malik to one year in prison for fraudulently collecting N1.5 million from one Muhammad Sani Abubakar, for a purported Mudaraba Investment with Jaiz Bank.

The one-count charge against Malik, a former staff of Jaiz Bank, states that in November 2016, in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, he obtained the amount with intent to defraud one Muhammad Sani Abubakar, a customer of Jaiz Bank, under false pretenses.

The money Malik had claimed would be used to service the plaintiff’s interest in Mudaraba Investment, a claim that is false, thereby, committing an offence contrary Penal Code.

Malik pleaded “not guilty” to the charge on February 4, 2019, when he was first arraigned.

The trial judge thus found him guilty and fixed today, March 12, 2019 for sentencing.

In sentencing him, Justice Umar, however, gave him a fine of N100, 000 which if he defaults in paying, he would spend the one year in prison.