The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Kaduna Zonal Office on November 13, 2017, arraigned one Mohammed Bashir Isah before Justice Tukur of the Kaduna State High Court on a 7-count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretense and forgery.

The petitioner alleged that  sometime in November 2016, the accused, Mohammed, accosted him with documents for an outright sale of a 100ft by 100ft  plot of land situated at Rigachikun Layout, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State valued at Eleven Million Naira.

Without suspecting foul play, the complainant agreed to purchase the land and gave the accused Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira cash, a GMC SUV and two Peugeot 406 cars valued at Eight Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira.

All documents of the said land were then handed over to the complainant who after a while decided to resell the land to another buyer. It was upon the commencement of construction by the second buyer that it was discovered that the documents were fake. Thereafter, all efforts by the complainant to recover his hard earned money were futile.

Count one of the charge reads, “that you Mohammed Bashir Isah sometime in November, 2016 at Kaduna, within the Kaduna Judicial Division of the High Court with intend to defraud obtained property worth N 11,000,000 ( Eleven Million Naira ) to wit: cash sum of N 2,500,000 ( Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), a GMC car at the cost of N 5,500,000 ( Five Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira), two Peugeot cars at the cost of N 3,000,000 ( Three Million Naira ) from one Sidi Bello Abubakar under a false sale of land agreement situated at Rigachikun layout, Kaduna measured 100ft by 100ft, which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the same Act”.

The accused person pleaded not guilty to all the charges  and prosecuting counsel Sa’ad Hannafi  Sa’ad urged the court to fix a date for hearing on the matter as all witnesses are ready to testify, while remanding  the accused in prison custody.

Justice Tukur declined the accused bail as his application was not filed on time and then ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody pending hearing of his bail application.

Justice Tukur adjourned the case to 12th January, 2018 for further hearing.