Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, has convicted and sentenced one Faruk Umar to six months imprisonment.
The convict, alongside others, was arrested on August 26, 2024, following credible intelligence on the activities of illegal Bureau De Change operators at the Eko Hotel area of Victoria Island, Lagos.
He was subsequently arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on fraudulent foreign exchange transactions.
The charge reads: “That you, Faruk Umar, sometime in August, 2024 at Eko Hotel Area, Victoria Island Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1) (a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment, (ETC) Act, 1994 and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act”.
He pleaded “guilty “ to the charge when it was read to her.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, C.C.Okezie, sought to present an investigative officer of the EFCC, Hamisu Sanni, to review the facts of the matter.
Sanni narrated that the convict confessed to being involved in buying and selling of foreign currency without a licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
He told the court that Umar’s phone was subjected to forensic examination, adding that “It revealed over 40 conversations related to forex transactions with other individuals.” Thereafter, Okezie, through Sanni, tendered in evidence the confessional statements of the convict as well as findings from the investigation.
Okezie, therefore, prayed the court to convict him as charged and also sentence him accordingly. Justice Aneke found Umar guilty of the offence and sentenced him to six months imprisonment.
The judge also pronounced a fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira only), in lieu of the prison sentence, which should be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation.
His phone was also forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Umar’s road to the Correctional Centre began when he was arrested by operatives of the EFCC for dealing in foreign exchange transactions without a requisite licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. He pleaded guilty to a lone-count charge raised against him and was convicted.
