An Abuja-based man, Daniel Ameh, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for defrauding a Bureau De Change operator of N36m.
PUNCH Metro learnt in a statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that the convict had in 2021 collected the sum of N36m from one Inalegu Egwa with the promise of helping him to set up a BDC business alongside necessary registration.
The statement read, “Investigation revealed that Ameh in 2021 advised Egwa to register a bureau de change, BDC business, which Egwa agreed to and engaged the convict to do the registration for him in the Corporate Affairs Commission, and to apply for the relevant licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the EFCC noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria had in 2022 cancelled BDC registration to the knowledge of the convict, but rather than refund Egwa, Ameh converted the money to personal use.
The EFCC continued, “Egwa paid the sum of N36 million through the convict’s bank account for remittance to the CBN”, stressing that “in 2022, the apex bank announced the cancellation of BDC registrations and directed all affected applicants to forward their account details for a refund of the payments they made.
“Rather than inform Egwa of the new development for the channelling of the refund accordingly, the convict kept his victim in the dark, received the money in his account and converted it to his use.”
The victim, therefore, petitioned the EFCC, leading to the arrest and prosecution of the convict before Justice S. M. Mayana of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja.
