ICPC secures conviction of two national Assembly staff o ver ₦4.8m Job Scam

ICPC secures conviction of two national Assembly staff o ver ₦4.8m Job Scam

By Johnson Arua

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of two staff members of the National Assembly, Mustapha Mohammed and Tijjani Adam Goni, for their involvement in a ₦4.8 million job scam.

The duo were found guilty of defrauding two unsuspecting victims — Saifudeen Yakub and Aminu Abubakar — under the false pretext of securing employment opportunities for them at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by the ICPC Spokesperson, Demola Bakare, fsi, the conviction followed a petition numbered ICPC/P/NC/1056/2022 submitted by the victims, who alleged that the suspects conspired with a fugitive, Mustapha Muhammed, to perpetrate the fraud.

Investigations revealed that on May 27, 2021, the at-large suspect, Muhammed, introduced Goni as his colleague at the National Assembly and claimed he could secure two job slots at the CBN for ₦4 million each. Acting on this false assurance, the victims transferred a total of ₦3 million to a Zenith Bank account belonging to Goni.

Further evidence showed that on April 27, 2021, the defendants demanded an additional ₦300,000 from each victim for purported “medical screening,” which was paid into an Access Bank account under the name Badraddin Mohammed.

Following a detailed investigation, the ICPC arraigned the defendants before Justice B.M. Bassi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court No. 55 sitting in Asokoro, Abuja.

Prosecution counsel Fatima Abdullahi Bardi informed the court that the duo faced a five-count charge bordering on fraud, conspiracy, and forgery, in contravention of various provisions of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and the Penal Code.

The court heard that the defendants forged employment letters dated June 11 and June 28, 2021, purportedly issued by the CBN and FIRS, to deceive and extort money from their victims.

However, under the plea bargain provisions of Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, the accused persons pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge of making false statements, contrary to Section 25 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

Justice Bassi consequently sentenced the two National Assembly staff to pay a fine of ₦100,000 each, in addition to mandatorily refunding the entire ₦4.8 million fraudulently obtained from the victims into the ICPC recovery account.

The Commission reiterated its resolve to sustain the fight against corruption and urged members of the public to remain vigilant against job racketeering and similar fraudulent schemes.