The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced a man, Faruk Umar, to six months imprisonment for engaging in unauthorized foreign exchange transactions.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke delivered the verdict on Wednesday after Umar pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC, in a statement shared on its official X account on Monday, revealed that Umar was apprehended on August 26, 2024, at the Eko Hotel area in Victoria Island, Lagos, alongside others. His arrest followed intelligence on the activities of illegal Bureau De Change operators.
Following investigations, the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the EFCC arraigned Umar on a one-count charge related to fraudulent foreign exchange dealings. Part of the charge read:
“That you, Faruk Umar, sometime in August 2024, at Eko Hotel Area, Victoria Island, Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment Act, 1994, and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.”
During the trial, EFCC prosecutor C.C. Okezie presented Hamisu Sanni, an investigating officer, to review the case facts. Sanni informed the court that Umar admitted to conducting foreign exchange transactions without a valid Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licence.
“We subjected his phone to forensic examination, which revealed over 40 conversations related to forex transactions with other individuals,” Sanni testified.
The prosecution tendered Umar’s confessional statements and findings from the investigation as evidence, urging the court to convict him.
In his ruling, Justice Aneke found Umar guilty and sentenced him to six months in prison. However, he offered the convict an alternative fine of ₦50,000, payable into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation.
Additionally, the court ordered that Umar’s mobile phone be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
