A Kano resident, Bulama Abdulrahman, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for impersonating an auctioneer of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and defrauding victims of N35 million.
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Justice Nasiru Saminu of the Kano State High Court delivered the verdict on Friday, convicting Abdulrahman on one of two charges related to fraud and obtaining money under false pretenses. While he was acquitted of the second charge, the judge ruled that he must also refund the N35 million to his victims. If he fails to make the repayment, he will serve an additional seven years behind bars.
The EFCC’s counsel, Musa Isah, presented three witnesses during the trial, while Abdulrahman testified alone in his defense. His lawyer pleaded for leniency, highlighting that Abdulrahman is a PhD student at Nasarawa State University, but the court upheld the sentence.
Abdulrahman’s fraudulent activities came to light when the EFCC received a petition accusing him of posing as an auctioneer selling forfeited properties. He allegedly tricked his victims into paying N35 million for a truck and an uncompleted building in Kano.
This is not Abdulrahman’s first encounter with the law, as he had previously been convicted for a similar offense by the same court in 2021.
