Court Jails Man for N35m BDC Licence Fraud

While delivering judgement on Monday, May 5, 2025, Justice S. M. Mayana of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Apo, Abuja, however, gave the convict an option of N1 million fine.

Mr Ameh found himself before the judge after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned him on a one-count charge bordering on criminal misappropriation.

The commission said the offence was contrary to Section 309 of the Penal Code and punishable under the same section and to which he pleaded “not guilty.”

During the trial, the prosecution counsel, Mr Ibrahim Buba, presented three witnesses and tendered relevant documents, which convinced the judge, who passed the judgement.

Mr Ameh was directed by Justice Mayana to pay the sum of N22 million, in restitution to his victim.

Investigation revealed that in 2021, Mr Ameh advised Mr Egwa to register a Bureaux de Change (BDC) company, which the victim agreed and engaged the convict to do the registration for him in the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and to apply for the relevant licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mr Egwa paid the sum of N36 million through the convict’s bank account for remittance to the CBN, but in 2022, the apex bank announced the cancellation of BDC registrations and directed all affected applicants to forward their account details for refund of payments they made.

Rather than inform Mr Egwa of the new development for the channelling of the refund accordingly, Mr Ameh kept his victim in the dark, received the money in his personal account and converted it to his use.