A Kano State High Court has sentenced a man to 88 years imprisonment for stealing N21 million from a microfinance bank.
The man, Aliyu Suleiman, was also fined N33.5 million
The convict was arraigned on a 105-count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on September 30, 2014 for allegedly stealing from Albasu Microfinance Bank.
He had pleaded not guilty to all the counts in the charge against him.
In her judgment on Wednesday, November 2, 2016, Justice Dije Aboki found him guilty on all the counts.
In addition to the sentence, the court said Mr. Suleiman must refund almost N15 million to the community that engaged him to run the bank, or serve another term of five years in jail.
She sentenced him to two years and a fine of N300,000 for each of counts 1 to 44.
The court ruled that where the convict defaults to pay the fine, he will serve additional six months imprisonment on each of the 44 counts.
For counts 45 to 74, the convict was sentenced to a fine of N500, 000 or 12 months imprisonment on each the counts; while on counts 75 to 105, he is to pay a fine of N200, 000 or face 12 months imprisonment on each count, with the exception of count 97 which the judge said appeared to be duplication.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
Mr. Suleiman was also ordered to reimburse the Albasu community the sum of N14.8 million or spend five more years in prison.
The convict was a former staff of Oceanic Bank who was engaged and entrusted by the members of Albasu community to take charge of their microfinance bank but was alleged to have duped them.
While working as manager of the Microfinance bank, the convict violated that trust and siphoned over N21, 000,000 (Twenty Million Naira) by forging the signatures of the other signatories to the funds.
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