Justice R.M. Aikawa of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, has convicted seven suspects for stealing N1 billion from TajBank Limited’s agency banking platform.
The suspects — Abdulrasheed Dayyabu, Abdulrahman Salim, Abubakar Ali Uba, Ishaq Haruna, Muhammad Faisal, Muhammad Sani Ahmed, and Hassan Umar were said to have exploited a glitch in TajBank’s system to illegally transfer the sum to various banks and fintech platforms.
They were docked for alleged impersonation, money laundering, retention of proceeds of crime, and unauthorized bank transfers in a case filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, their arrest followed a petition from TajBank.
They were arraigned alongside one Falalu Tanko, who was nabbed in the Babar Saura area of Kaduna for fraudulent internet activities.
The charge against Dayyabu reads: “That you, Abudulrasheed Dayyabu, sometime in the year 2024, at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, did aid one Buhari to commit an offence, to wit: retention of proceeds of criminal conduct and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 21(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 20(b) of the same Act.”
The charge against Tanko states: “That you Falalu Tanko, sometime in June, 2025 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court retained the total sum of $3000.00 USD (Three Thousand United States Dollars) which you knew that such fund forms part of proceeds of an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”
All defendants pleaded “guilty,” after which prosecution counsel Fortune Amina Iminabo Asemebo urged the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Justice Aikawa sentenced Dayyabu to four years in prison or a fine of N100,000. He also forfeited N300,000 — the proceeds of his crime — to the federal government.
Uba, Salim, Haruna, Faisal, Ahmed, and Umar were each sentenced to four years imprisonment or a fine of N200,000. They also forfeited various sums to the federal government:
Uba — N500,000
Salim — N720,000
Haruna — N200,000
Faisal — N1,100,000
Ahmed — N1,200,000
Umar — N170,000
Tanko was sentenced to three years imprisonment or a fine of N300,000. His BMW 3 Series (2008 model) and iPhone 13 Pro — proceeds and tools of his crime — were forfeited to the federal government.
