Justice Ahmad Mahmud of the Federal High Court sitting in Sokoto has convicted and sentenced three car dealers: Aminu Sahabi, Nasiru Muhammad Dan Yaro and Umar Mohammed to five years imprisonment each

They were jailed on Friday, July 22, 2022 after pleading guilty to one-count count separate charge bordering on flouting provisions of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 (as amended in 2012), upon being arraigned by the Sokoto Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The count charge reads:

"That you Aminu Sahabi and Amiu Sahabi Investment Nigeria Limited carrying on a business of sales of vehicles as a designated Non-Financial Institution at No 13 Gusau Road, Sokoto sometime in 2021at Sokoto within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court Sokoto did in contravention of Section 5(1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended in 2012 fail to submit a declaration of your activities to wit: requirement of customers identification and the submission of returns on transactions to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering domiciled in the EFCC and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 5(1) to 5 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 5(6) (a) of the same Act".

Based on their guilty pleas, EFCC counsel S.H Sa'ad, prayed the court to convict and sentence the convicts accordingly. However, defence counsel, Ibrahim Hussein, in his allocutus, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy pleading that the convicts are first- time offenders.

Justice Mahmud convicted and sentenced each of the defendants to 5years imprisonment with an option of fine of N125,000.00( One Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Naira) . The court also fined each of the companies: Aminu Sahabi Investment Nigeria Limited and Nagarta Motors N125, 000.00.

Media & Publicity

22 July, 2022