A Gombe State High Court presided over by Justice Daurabo S. Sikkam on March 3, 2022 convicted and sentenced one Wadaji Umar Lawan to fifteen months imprisonment on two counts of forgery and attempt to commit an offence, contrary to Sections 95 and 362 and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Law.
Lawan, sometime in February 2021 was alleged to have made representation to the public, offering to procure grants for them from the Tony Elumelu Foundation and collected monies to the tune of Two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N2,500,000.00).
Upon the receipt of the intel on the activities of the defendant, undercover operatives pretending to be interested in the fraudulent scheme presented marked Ten Thousand Naira (N10,000.00) each to the fraudsters. They were subsequently arrested
Investigation by the Commission after the defendant was arrested alongside other suspects at Kembu Plaza,along Biu Road, revealed that Lawan and others had used the Hausa/Fulani Progressive Development Association and two other unregistered companies- Creative Global Technology and Wul Nigeria Limited- to perpetrate their nefarious.
Tony Elumelu Foundation also confirmed that neither the defendant nor his accomplices had any connection with it as his name was not found in the Foundation’s Alumni database.
According to a statement by the EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to three months imprisonment on count one with an option of N30,000. 00 fine and one year on count two with an option of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) fine.