Justice Darius Khobo of a Kaduna High Court on Thursday sentenced a man, Abdullahi Audi, to two years’ imprisonment for N600,000 land fraud.
The judge sentenced Audi following his guilty plea and review of the facts of the case.
Khobo said that the sentence would serve as a deterrent to others intending to indulge in such a crime.
He, however, gave the convict an option of N200, 000 fine, and warned him to be law-abiding.
Khobo ordered the convict to restitute the sum of N600,000 to the complainant, Mr Danjuma Hassan.
The judge ordered that failure of the convict to make the restitution would earn him additional eight months’ prison term.
Earlier, Mr Precious Onyeneho, counsel to Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which prosecuted the case, told the court that the convict committed the crime in July 2018 in Kaduna State
Onyeneho said that sometime in 2018, the complainant entrusted a plot of land situated at Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State to the convict’s care.
He submitted that the convict sold the plot of land without the complainant’s knowledge and converted the money to his personal use.
The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 306 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.
The Defence Counsel, Sani Haruna, had prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.
Haruna said that the convict was a first-time offender and a family man, adding that he was remorseful.
