Former banker bags 9-year jail term for defrauding old generation bank

Desmond Mgboh, Kano

A former banker, Rabiu Alhasan Dawakihas been sentenced to a total of nine years in prison for conspiracy and criminal breach of trust in the discharge of his duties to his former employer.

Justice Dije Abdu Aboki of the Kano State High Court, who handed out the sentence, found the defendant guilty and convicted on seven count charge but acquitted him on 21 other counts.

She convicted him on Count 1, which borders on conspiracy Count 2,11,22,24,25 and 26 all of which borders on criminal breach of trust.

On count 1, 11,22,24,25 and 26, the court sentenced him to 2 years in prison and a fine of N200,000 only on each. On Count 2, however, the court sentenced him to 5 years in prison and a fine of N200,000.

She added that the sentence on Count 2 and 11 were to run consecutively while those on Counts 1,22,24,25,26 were to run concurrently.

Justice Aboki also ordered that the convict to restitute all the sums of money involved in the Counts he was convicted of, which amounted to the sum of N93,232,500 only.

Dawaki’s conviction followed his arrangement by the Kano Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on February 26, 2015.

He was arraigned alongside Abdullahi Umar Rano and Samuel Obende, all of whom as employees of an old generation bank, were directly responsible for receiving, processing and distributing money to all the bank’s cash centres across Kano, Katsina and Jigawa States.
According to their charges, they however betrayed the trust of their employers and conspired among themselves to defraud the bank by diverting the said funds to their own use.

The convict alongside his co-defendants, both of whom are now deceased, were accused of altering the figures to show that they made cash deliveries to designated branches whereas the monies were never delivered.

Upon arraignment, Dawaki and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, thereby setting the stage for full trial.During the course of the trial, Dawaki’s co-defendants died and their names were subsequently removed from the charge .