March 13, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned a couple, Baba Sule Abubakar Sadiq and Hafsat Kabir Lawal, alongside two others, Abdullahi Bala and Ladani Akindele, before Justice Amina Bello of the Kaduna State High Court over alleged fraud amounting to N197.7m.
The defendants are facing a six-count charge bordering on obtaining money under false pretenses, money laundering, and stealing.
According to the EFCC, the suspects allegedly impersonated the wife of the Katsina State Governor, Fatima Dikko Radda, to defraud their victims.
Investigations revealed that Hafsat allegedly contacted her victims, introducing herself as one of the wives of Governor Dikko Radda. Using this guise, she reportedly obtained N89m and an additional N108m from a bureau de change operator under the pretext of exchanging the naira for $118,300.
Her husband, Sadiq, was said to have aided the scheme by providing her with two SIM cards, which were registered under the Truecaller identity of “Fatima Dikko Radda.” He then allegedly reached out to the fourth defendant, Ladani Akindele, a former colleague at a new-generation bank, to obtain the contact details of Unity Bank’s Chairman, Hafiz Bashir. Through this connection, they reportedly gained access to the victim.
EFCC sources further alleged that Hafsat convinced the victim, Aminu Usman, to transfer the sum of N197,750,000 to an account belonging to the third defendant, Abdullahi Bala. The funds were then allegedly laundered through various means.
The suspects were initially arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) before being transferred to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution.
One of the charges against them reads, “That you, Hafsat Kabir Lawal, Babasule Abubakar Sadiq, Abdullahi Bala, and Ladani Akindele Ayodele, sometime in December 2024, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N89,000,000 from Aminu Usman, which you caused to be paid into the Taj Bank account of Abdullahi Bala under the false pretense that you had $53,300 to exchange for the naira equivalent, an offense contrary to Section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Following their plea, Justice Bello ordered that they be remanded in a correctional facility and adjourned the case till March 17, 2025, for the hearing of their bail applications.
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