Thelma Osatohanmwen
A High Court sitting in Abuja, has sent one Mohammed Momoh, masquerading as an investigator, to seven-year imprisonment for deceiving Mrs. Mario Al-Makura, the spouse of Nasarawa State’s former governor.
The trial, presided over by Justice Peter Kekemeke, culminated in Momoh’s conviction on charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), centering on false pretenses.
During the proceedings, Momoh’s legal representative, Godwin Omagbogu, pleaded for leniency, highlighting his client’s status as a first-time offender and a father of three young children, along with a supportive wife.
Diana Nkwap, the prosecution counsel, urged the court to apply its discretion judiciously in determining the sentence.
Justice Kekemeke, in delivering the verdict, noted that the offense carried a possible sentence ranging from a minimum of seven years to a maximum of twenty.
Consequently, he sentenced Momoh to seven years behind bars.
NEWSTODAYNG gathered that, this saga dates back to December 2017, when Momoh was apprehended by EFCC operatives for attempting to swindle Mairo Al-Makura.
Posing as a private investigator with ties to the “Villa,” he approached the governor’s wife with an offer to halt an alleged investigation into her husband’s bank accounts.
Claiming to have stumbled upon incriminating information about the accounts in 2011, Momoh demanded N8 million but settled for N6 million.
Unknown to him, the Al-Makura family had alerted the EFCC, resulting in a sting operation that led to his arrest after he accepted marked bills amounting to N2 million.
The EFCC charged Momoh under Section 1(1)(a) and Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006, solidifying his fate in the courtroom today.