Man arrested for issuing fake dollar notes in exchange for N1.7m
Usman Nafada, a bureau de change operator, has been arrested by the police for allegedly conspiring with an accomplice who is still at large, to dupe one Abdullahi Uba out of N1.7m.
It was reported that Nafada had initially told Uba that he did not have hard currency for the exchange.
He, however, purportedly collected the money from Uba and took it to his “partner”, after which the suspect returned with 45 notes of $100, which he then gave to his unsuspecting victim.
It was after Uba discovered that the dollars were fake, that he reported the alleged fraud at the Lion Building Police Division, and Nafada was subsequently arrested.
“About 30 minutes after, the complainant discovered that the notes were fakes. He ran back to Nafada, but he denied knowing about the fraud. He took the victim to where he changed the money, but his accomplice had disappeared. Effort is ongoing to apprehend him,” a police source told the publication.
Nafada was on Monday arraigned before an Igbosere Magistrate court by police prosecutor, Francisca Job, on three counts related to stealing.
Job told the court that the offence violated sections 409, 312 (1) and 278 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011 and was thus punishable.
The charge read in part, “That you, Usman Nafada, and one other at large, on November 16, 2016, at about 11.30am, at Obalende, Lagos Island, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did obtain N1,792,000 from one Abdullahi Uba as equivalent naira to 45 fake notes of $100.
“That you, and others at large, on the same date, time and place in the aforementioned magisterial district, did steal the sum of N1,792,000 property of one Abdullahi Uba, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 278 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
Mr Nafada was however granted bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties with like value, after pleading “not guilty” to the charges. The case was adjourned till December 13, 2016.
