Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
A farmer who hails from Taraba State, Mr Hassan Abubakar, has been convicted by a Gombe State High Court for criminal breach of trust.
The convict was punished for diverting the sum of N1.6 million he was to invest in a rice farming business jointly owned by him and another investor identified as Mr Abubakar Suleman.
Mr Suleman filed a petition to the zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Gombe State, accusing Mr Abubakar of using the money he invested in the business for another purpose.
This prompted the EFCC to swing into action and after having something concrete to nail on the convict, he was dragged before Justice Abubakar Jauro on 15 count charges bordering on criminal breach of trust.
He was arraigned in 2019 and one of the charges read, “That you Hassan Abubakar and Jamilu Abubakar (at large) sometimes in 2017 in Gombe, within the Jurisdiction of this court converted to your own use the sum of N208, 000 property of Abubakar Suleman and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 311 and punishable under Section 312 of the Penal Court Law”.
He pleaded not guilty, but Justice Jauro found him guilty because the prosecution, through its counsel, A. M. Ocholi, proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He, thereafter, convicted and sentenced the defendant to one-year imprisonment on each of the 15 counts with the sentences to run consecutively.
However, the judge said the convict has an option to pay a fine of N75,000 and he has been ordered to pay the complainant the amount in question in restitution.
