Borno court jails three illegal BDC operators

 

Justice K. Dagat of the Federal High Court in Maiduguri, Borno State, has sentenced three illegal Bureau-de-Change operators to one year in prison each.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced this in a statement on X.com (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

The statement identified the defendants as Buba Ahmadu Aliyu, Mohammed Mustapha, and Muhammad Zarami. They were arraigned by the EFCC’s Maiduguri Zonal Directorate on Wednesday, each facing a separate one-count charge for operating illegal bureau de change businesses.

The statement partly read, “The count against Aliyu reads, ‘That you, Buba Ahmadu Aliyu, sometime in May 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did carry on other financial business without a license issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria, contrary to section 57 (1) and (2)b and punishable under section 57 (5) b of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.

“While the charge against Mustapha reads: That you, Mohammed Mustapha, sometime in May 2024, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did carry on, other financial business without a license issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria contrary to Section 57 (1) and (2)b and punishable under 57 (5) b of the Banks and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.”

The defendants were said to have pleaded “guilty” to the charges when they were read to them.

Justice Dagat thereafter convicted and sentenced the defendants to one-year imprisonment with an option of N100,000 each.

The convicts were reported to have bagged their imprisonment when they were arrested for operating bureau-de-change businesses without an appropriate licence.