EFCC Arraigns Fake NNPC Director Over N100m Fraud

The Kaduna State Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned one Ibrahim Shuaibu before Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court for fraud.

Shuaibu is being prosecuted for seven offenses bordering on criminal breach of trust, impersonation, and obtaining by pretense, involving a total amount of N100 million, as mentioned in a statement on EFCC’s X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday.

Count one of his charges reads: “That you, Nuhu Ibrahim Shuaibu (a.k.a Ishaku Abdulrazak) (M) and lIya Garba (now deceased) sometime in 2017 in Kaduna within the judicial division of this honourable court did conspire between yourselves to do an illegal act, to wit: obtaining money under false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

Another reads: “That you, Nuhu Ibrahim Shuaibu (a.k.a Ishaku Abdulrazak)(M) sometime in 2018 at Kaduna within the judicial division of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the total sum of N47,050,000.00 (Forty-Seven Million and Fifty Thousand Naira) from one Faisal Safiyanu, when you claimed to supply him petroleum products, which pretense you knew to be false and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

Shuaibu however pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges when they were read to him, prompting the prosecution counsel, M. Lawal to urge the court to fix a date for trial as his counsel, AbdulKareem Audu, failed to file a bail application.

Justice Khobo afterward ordered the defendant to be remanded in the custody of the EFCC.

Shuaibu’s journey to prosecution began in 2017 when he pretended to be the Group Executive Director of NNPC, and promised to assist his victim in obtaining more than 2,000 litres of petroleum products.

The victim subsequently transferred the agreed payment to Shuaibu’s bank accounts installmentally, but after receiving the funds, he neither delivered the products nor refunded the victim’s money.