Justice Binta Fatima Isah of the Kaduna State High Court sitting in Zaria, yesterday January 17, 2017, convicted and jailed one Jehu Kwasu to 3 years in prison on a two-count charge of forgery and obtaining by false pretence.
The graduate of Political Science was narrated how he impersonated the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Kukah and defrauded prominent Nigerians of millions of naira.
Kwasu said his victims included Bishop David Oyedepo, who he claimed gave him N500,000; the Chairman, Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, N1m; Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, N500,000; businessman, Alhaji Aminu Dantata, N2m.
He allegedly collected the sums for Internally Displaced Persons. He said: “I opened a GTB account in Bishop Kukah’s name. I registered a SIM card in my name, but used Bishop Kukah’s picture on my Truecaller account, so that when I call, his picture would appear on the recipient’s phone.”
Justice Binta sentenced him to two years imprisonment for the offence of obtaining by false pretence and one-year imprisonment for the offence of forgery. The sentence is to run concurrently. He was also ordered to restitute the sum of N5m.
In a related development, Justice Idrissa Kolo of the Federal High Court, Kano, convicted and sentenced one Christopher Ngene to 9 years imprisonment on three counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence.
The convict fraudulently induced the complainant through a phone call to part with the sum of N350, 000 on the pretext that the money would be used to purchase a solar panel.
Justice Idrissa sentenced him to a prison term of 3 years on each of the three-count charge. The sentence is to run concurrently from the day of his arrest.
