The Maiduguri Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arraigned the duo of Ahmadu Haruna and Kabir Iliyasu for operating bureau-de-change, (BDC), businesses without an appropriate license.
They were arraigned on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 before Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court, Damaturu.
A statement by the anti-graft agency on Saturday said, the defendants were arraigned on a one-count separate charge.
The lone charge against Haruna reads: “That you, Ahmadu Haruna, between the month of June 2023 and 2024 in Damaturu, Yobe State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did carry on other financial businesses, to wit, bureau de change business without a license issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria contrary to sections 57 and 59(5) of the Bank and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.”
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges raised against them by the EFCC when they were read to them. Counsel to the prosecution, Mukhtar Ali Ahmad, thereafter, prayed the court for a trial date and to remand the defendants in prison custody.
While counsel for the defendants I. Abdulmalik prayed the court to admit his clients to bail pending the determination of the case. Justice Aminu, thereafter, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N5,000,000 (Five Million Naira) and two sureties in like sum.
She further ordered that one of the sureties must be a traditional ruler or religious leader while the other should be a respected elder and all must be residing in any Local Government Areas of Yobe State.
The judge adjourned the matter till April 16, 2024, for the commencement of trial and remanded the defendants in Potiskum Correctional Facility pending the fulfilment of their bail conditions.
