Justice Maryam Sabo of the Kano State High Court has convicted and sentenced one Ebonine Rita Uzoamaka to seven years’ imprisonment for obtaining N5.6m by false pretence.

The conviction was disclosed in a statement posted on Tuesday on the official social media handle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Uzoamaka was arraigned on August 18, 2021, on five-count charges bordering on dishonest misappropriation of funds totalling N5,660,000.

One of the charges read, “That you Ebonine Rita Uzoamaka on the 18th January 2021 at Kano within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of N2,000,000 only from Ochayi Anthony Eneche which you caused to be paid into your bank account number 0093030293 domiciled with Access Bank Plc under the false pretence that you had 500 cartons of D-Rich Baking powder you would sell to him, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were first read to her, prompting a full trial.

During the trial, prosecution counsel, Salihu Sani, called four witnesses and tendered several documentary exhibits which were admitted in evidence by the court to establish the defendant’s guilt. The defendant testified as the sole witness in her defence.

Delivering judgment, Justice Sabo convicted and sentenced Uzoamaka to seven years’ imprisonment on all five counts. The court, however, gave her an option of a N500,000 fine.

The EFCC stated that Uzoamaka was arrested for obtaining N5.6m from her victim under the false pretence of supplying D-Rich Baking Powder from Aba, Abia State.

Upon receiving the funds, she allegedly failed to supply the goods as agreed and converted the money to personal use, leading to her prosecution and eventual conviction.