The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, January 30, 2020 arraigned one Shehu Muhammad Aliyu, a former staff of a new generation bank alongside his wife, Ramatu Abdullahi, before Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano State High Court for conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence.
Aliyu was arraigned on a five-count charge, while Ramatu was arraigned on a one-count charge. The first defendant, Aliyu, a former account officer in the bank, allegedly obtained loans through non-existent account holders, which he created by himself, purporting same to be staff of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, AKTH, Kano State, by presenting AKTH documents which turned out to have been forged.
Investigation further revealed that his wife’s account was used to deposit part of the loan sum. Count one reads: “That you, Shehu Muhammad Aliyu, Baba Abba Sambo (now at large), Ramatu Abdullahi and Hadiza Sani (now at large) sometime in 2013 or thereabout at Kano, Kano State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court and with the intent to defraud, conspired among yourselves to do an illegal act to wit; obtaining money by false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 8(a) and punishable under section 1(3) of advance fee fraud and other related offences Act 2006.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges. As such, counsel for the EFCC, Zarami Mohammed, asked the court for a date for the commencement of trial.
Counsel for the defence, however, prayed the court to hear their bail applications.
Thereafter, Justice Saminu granted the first defendant bail in the sum of N1million with two reliable sureties in like sum. The judge held that: “One of the sureties shall be a close relative of the defendant and should have a landed property within the jurisdiction of the court covered by a Certificate of Occupancy.