Court sends judge to prison for alleged fraud

A Federal High Court sitting in Gombe State on Friday remanded an area court judge, Umar Y. Gwani, for alleged fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, which filed the case, accused the judge of collecting money from the public through false pretence and conspiracy.
The counsel to EFCC, Zarami Mohammed, said the accused conspired with two others to sell plots of land belonging to Gombe State government to the public through false pretence.
He said the judge failed to contact the Ministry of Land and Survey and Local Government Area before selling the plots of land to the public.
He also said the judge later had denied receiving payments for the eight or nine plots sold for N7 million.
The accused judge appeared before the Federal High court on a four- count charge.
Speaking to journalists after the hearing, his counsel, Mukaan Kingsley, said that he was surprised to see that the listed count charges were different from what transpired in court.