Sisters bag 10-years jail term for spending N1.7m donated to patient

The Kaduna State High Court has convicted and sentenced the duo of Maryam Jallo and Rukaiya Jallo to 10 years imprisonment for offences bordering on criminal breach of trust.

Justice Muhammad Tukur sentenced Maryam and Rukaiya, who are siblings, on Tuesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said.

EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, noted in a statement that both sisters were prosecuted on an amended count by the Kaduna Zonal office of the commission.

The charge read, “that you Maryam Jallo and Rukaiya Jallo on the 30th day of March, 2019 in Kaduna within the judicial division of this honourable court, while being entrusted with the sum of One Million Seven Hundred Thousand Naira (N1,700,000) only by one Alhaji Badamasi Shanono and Adio Bukar Hashia for medical treatment of one Usman Umar dishonestly misappropriated same and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 293 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 294 of the Same Law”.

The defendants pleaded ‘guilty’ to the amended charge preferred against them.

Justice Tukur, thereafter, convicted and sentenced them to 10 years imprisonment with an option of N100,000 fine.

In a petition to the anti-graft agency, Shanono alleged that in 2019, Jamal Health Foundation – owned by the convicts – used its social media platform in soliciting donations and contributions from donors for the medical expenses of one Usman Umar who had been bedridden for over two years as a result of partial paralyses.

The petitioner claimed he donated N1 million to the foundation, while N700,000 was chipped in by a woman.

He added that Jamal Foundation refused to hand over the funds to the patient but converted it to personal use.  (Channels TV)