Alleged N20m Theft: Two UBA staff, others arraigned

For allegedly being involved in conspiracy and theft to the tune of N20 million, two staff members of United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Freeman Austin Jacob and Umar Abdullahi were on Monday, June 5, 2023, arraigned before Justice Simon Akpah Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Kano.

Specifically, the duo were arraigned alongside others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a three-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

Others brought before the judge alongside the two UBA staff are Ahmed Bashir and Abdulhakim Musa (aka Gandu).

They were alleged to have conspired among themselves to produce an ATM card in the name of one Sani Muntari and used the same to steal the sum of N20 million from his bank account.

The defendants were further alleged to have perpetrated the fraud by using the SIM card of the account holder which was said to have been stolen by Bashir, the third defendant, to produce an ATM card with the help of the first and second defendants.

Part of the charge reads: “That You, Freeman Austin Jacob, Umar Abdullahi, sometime in February 2020, at Kano, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, connived with Ahmed Bashir and Abdulhakim Musa (aka Gandu) to prime and issue an ATM card from UBA account no 2062903187 belonging to one Alhaji Sani Mutari without the knowledge or consent of the said customer and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 14 (7) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention Act, 2015”.

But the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge, prompting the prosecutor, Aisha Tahar Habib, to pray to the judge for a date for the commencement of trial. The prosecutor equally asked the court to remand the defendant pending trial.

However, the lawyer for the first and second defendants orally applied for the bail of his clients, which was opposed by the anti-graft agency because the application ought to be made formal.

Counsel for the fourth defendant, L. A Umar, notified the judge of her intention to file a formal bail application and subsequently prayed to the court for a date to do the same and serve the prosecution.

After entertaining submissions from parties, Justice Amobeda agreed with the prosecution that bail applications should be made formally as the court is a court of record.

The judge consequently ordered the remand of the defendants and adjourned the matter until June 26, 2023, for hearing of bail applications and commencement of trial.

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