Two former staff of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) have been jailed for stealing N11,360,000 from the bank for personal use.
The Kano Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on October 31, 2019 arraigned the duo of Jude Ameh and Ademola Aderibigbe before Justice Farouk Lawan of the Kano State High Court.
The convicts were said to have connived and fraudulently stolen the said amount and arraigned on a one count amended charge of theft by Kano State High Court presided over by Justice Farouq Lawan Wednesday, 30, 2021.
The prosecution counsel Salihu Sani had requested for a date to proceed to trial, after both defendants had pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the 17-count charge brought against them.
The convicts later approached the Commission with a plea bargain proposal before the commencement of trial, which was accepted by the parties.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday at the resumed hearing of the matter, the defendants resulted to changing their initial plea from ‘not guilty’ to ‘guilty’ to an amended one count charge.
”That you Jude Ameh and Ademola Aderibigbe sometime in 2017 at Kano within the Jurisdiction of the High Court of Kano State did conspire between yourselves to commit an illegal act to wit: theft and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 96 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under Section 97 of the same Law,” the charge read.
Counsel for the prosecution, Sani prayed the court to convict them accordingly, in line with their new plea.
The defendants were convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment with option of N100, 000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) fine, by Justice Lawan.
