The Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Jabi, Abuja, has convicted and sentenced a former legislative aide and banker, Mr. Goni Yilkan, to 8 years’ imprisonment over a N120.5 million employment scam involving obtaining money by false pretence.
Justice F. E. Messiri passed the judgment, according to a statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday.
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC prosecuted the case against Yilkan, who hails from Nguru, Yobe State, with the court finding him guilty on a two-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence, contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
According to the statement, the defendant was arraigned alongside Mohammed Adamu in October 2023, following investigations into a petitioner’s claims of being defrauded by the convict.
“On this strength, the petitioner collected varying sums of money from over 60 jobseekers, amounting to N120,580,550.00 (One Hundred and Twenty Million, Five Hundred and Eighty Thousand, Five Hundred and Fifty Naira), which she allegedly remitted to the convict,” the statement partly reads.
One of the charges read:
The defendant denied the allegations, paving the way for trial.
The EFCC’s legal team maintained that he collected the sum of N120.5 million from desperate job seekers under the guise of offering them employment slots.
In his judgment, Justice Messiri held that “the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The judge convicted Yilkan but discharged and acquitted his co-defendant, Adamu.
The judge further sentenced Yilkan to eight years’ imprisonment without an option of fine.