Glory Ebomah
Justices Darius Khobo, R. M Aikawa and Hawa Buhari of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna have convicted and sentenced one Onoja Benjamin Ufedo to two years imprisonment for cheating and Karamchi Motors Limited and Dawaki Motors Limited for failure to comply with the requirements of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering, SCUML.
Ufedo was jailed on Monday, March 4, 2024, after he pleaded guilty to a lone count charge bordering on cheating upon arraignment by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The lone count charge reads: “that you, Onoja Benjamin Ufedo “m” sometimes in December 2023, in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did dishonestly induce one Sani Abubakar Abbas to pay you the sum of N100,000.00(One Hundred Thousand Naira), which you paid one Mohammed Nasir Sadeeq the sum of N50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira), to procure two false certificates of Occupancy of Chikun Local Government with numbers: CH/B/000524 and CH/B/ 000520, and you thereby committed cheating, an offence contrary to Section 306(b) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 307 of the same Law.
Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said the defendant pleaded guilty to the lone-count charge when it was read to him.
Prosecution counsel, M. O Arumemi, relying on the guilty plea by the defendant, asked the court to convict him accordingly.
Justice Khobo convicted and sentenced Ufedo to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of N200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand naira).
In the same vein, Justices Aikawa and Buhari convicted and sentenced Karamchi Motors Ltd and Dawaki Motors Ltd to a fine of N250,000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) for failing to comply with the reporting requirements of SCUML.
The lone-count charge against Dawaki Motors Ltd reads: “that you, Dawaki Motors Ltd operating the business of motor vehicle dealership, sometime in July 2022 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did in contravention of the law, failed to submit a declaration of your activities to wit: requirements of customer’s identification and submission of returns on transactions to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition)Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 11(3) of the same Act.”
While the one-count charge against Karamchi Motors Ltd reads: “that you, Karamchi Motors Ltd, operating the business of general contractors and other businesses, sometime in July 2019, at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did an act to wit, failed to report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in writing within 7 days, your three (3) lodgments of N10,000,000.00(Ten Million Naira) which is over N5,000,000.00 (Five Million naira) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 10(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition)Act, 2011 (as amended) in 2012 and punishable under Section 10(3) of the same Act.”
Ufedo bagged his imprisonment for procuring a fake certificate of occupancy for a petitioner while Dawaki and Karamchi Motors Limited were convicted for running afoul of SCUML’s reporting guidelines regarding thresholds in transactions.