EFCC Re-arraigns One For Alleged N1.5b Fraud In Maiduguri
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, re-arraigned one Abubakar Muhammad before Justice Shehu Umaru Adamu of the Federal High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The defendant was re-arraigned on a twenty-count amended charge bordering on money laundering and criminal misappropriation to the tune of N1,500,000,000.00 (One Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira).
Count one reads: “That you, Abubakar Muhammad, whilst being the Shop Manager, at Aminami Global Ventures, a Company registered in Nigeria, that between January 2021 to February 2026, at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did commit an offence to wit: directly retained the aggregate sum of N1,500,000,000.00 (One Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira) only belonging to one Babagoni Ali Aminami, whereby you manipulated sales records and diverted some to your various account numbers (i) 2270202119, (ii) 0003515514, (iii) 3226870295 and (iv) 5372690494 domiciled with United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, TAJ Bank, First Bank Nigeria Limited and Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, which you ought to have reasonably known or ought to have known that it forms part of proceeds of an unlawful activity of your conduct under the guise that payment were received for and on behalf of Aminami Global Ventures and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2)(b) and punishable under Section 15(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2011.”
The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.
Counsel to the prosecution, Mukhtar Ali Ahmed, informed the court that the prosecution witness Babagoni Ali Aminami is ready to testify as PW1. Aminami, while being led in evidence as PW1 by prosecution counsel Ali, informed the court that he owned Aminami Global Ventures, and trained the defendant in the business and employed him as the manager of Aminami Global Ventures on a monthly salary and allowances.
According to Amimani, “the defendant abused the trust I reposed in him by diverting company funds into his own personal bank accounts. The defendant also directed customers to pay into his personal accounts instead of the company’s account. The defendant also obtained goods on credit in my name and failed to account for business transactions.”
“Muhammad has caused substantial financial losses to me, leaving me to settle the outstanding debts”.
In her testimony before the court, prosecution witness PW2, Rhoda Yaro, told the court that she worked in Aminami Global Ventures and was responsible for processing payments under the instructions of the defendant, who served as the company’s manager.
According to her, “Upon the defendant’s directives, I transferred funds from the company’s account to various accounts provided by him. She further stated that the transactions involved millions of naira, with some transfers ranging between ₦2 million and ₦3 million, and others amounting to about ₦5 million.”
She further testified that all the payments were carried out based on the defendant’s instructions and in the course of her official duties.
Muhammad Bashir, PW3 told the court that the defendant is his neighbor and the manager of Aminami Global Ventures. According to him, “on July 6, 2025, I came across a house advertised for sale and I could not afford to buy it, and I informed the defendant, who expressed interest in purchasing the property”
“The defendant transferred the money to me and I subsequently transferred the funds to Bako Kontoma through a Taj Bank account bearing the name Abubakar Mohammed and after the seller gave me the property documents, I handed it over to the defendant.”
Bashir identified the BOGIS document dated November 29, 2024, as the same document he received from Alhaji Bako Kontoma and the one he gave to the defendant.
PW 4 is Umar Mohammed Gajibo, who told the court that he is a businessman and deals with phone accessories and he knows both Alhaji Ali Goni Aminami and the defendant. He stated that he was the one who formerly registered Aminami Global Ventures with the Corporate Affairs Commission as an Oraimo distributor on behalf of Aminami.
When asked by the Prosecution counsel if he knew the petitioner and the defendant, the witness stated that he had known Aminami as a business partner since 2009 and during the business period “ Aminami and I, after the supply of Oraimo products, I always remit the proceeds to Aminami and the profits were shared between us.
Gajibo further told the court that he later established his own shop around 2022 or 2023 and began operating independently.
Prosecution counsel 5, Samuel Nwabisi stated that he knew Aminami, Aminami Global Ventures and Muhammad, who is the defendant. He further informed the court that he is the back-end Operator of Nestle Company and was attached to Aminami in charge of truck inventory that arrived from Lagos.
According to him, “I recorded pushing sales to Field Staff in Aminami and I have been with Aminami for the past year, with the Company’s target reaching N3b quarterly”
“After I worked with Aminami for two months at the Nestle office, my Field Sales Manager told me that Aminami needed my help to serve as his Personal Inventory Clerk in the market, which I agreed to, and this job is different from the back-end operator with Nestle”
“I worked with the defendant as the Manager of Aminami Global Ventures in the market as the inventory clerk. My duties are to record daily sales and invoices given by customers, as well as to monitor the counting of money. My lord, I was not given the sales records and the invoice to do my job by Abubakar,” he said.
He further stated that during his stay with the defendant, he observed fraudulent activities and dishonest acts when he received cash from customers; “he does not want me to be around when receiving money from customers,” he said.
Nwabisi further informed the court that, “on the issue of misappropriation of funds, Mallam Aminami could not meet up with his quarterly target from Nestle, so the business had to be paused for a period of three months. And later he was reinstated to start the business with Nestle in April, with his target dropped to N500m from N3b.”
Justices Adamu adjourned the matter till July 8, 2026 for continuation of hearing.
Muhammad was first arraigned on Wednesday, 3 June, 2026, on a two count charges for being entrusted as the Manager of Aminami Global Venture and he tampered with the sales records of Nestle Goods worth N1,500,000,000.00 (One Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira) and diverted the money for his own personal use.
