The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured the conviction of a bank employee, Janet Theophilus Danjuma, for defrauding an investor of N22.35m through a fictitious investment arrangement in Kano State.
Danjuma was sentenced on Monday by Justice S. M. Shuaibu of the Federal High Court, Kano Division, to five years’ imprisonment without the option of fine after pleading guilty to the charge against her.
The convict, said to be a staff member of Taj Bank Limited, Nai’bawa Branch in Kano, was arraigned on a one-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence.
According to the charge sheet, the offence occurred in October 2024 when she dishonestly obtained N22,350,000 from one Wade Bamaiyi under the guise of investing the funds in the bank’s Current Account Savings Account programme.
The prosecution stated that the defendant, with intent to defraud, misrepresented the investment as a legitimate product of the bank, knowing the claim to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(b) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
During proceedings, the prosecuting counsel, Sadiq Huseini, told the court that the defendant leveraged her position within the bank to gain the confidence of the victim and channelled the entire sum into her personal account.
He urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence, noting that such conduct erodes public confidence in the nation’s financial institutions.
Delivering judgment, Justice Shuaibu convicted Danjuma based on her admission of guilt and ordered that she be remanded in a correctional facility for five years without the option of a fine.
The anti-graft agency disclosed that investigations established that the purported investment scheme was non-existent and that the funds were diverted for personal use.