By JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
A criminal complaint before Chief Magistrate Abdullahi Muhammed Digital, of Yola Chief Magistrates Court.has remanded one Pharmacist, Abusufiyan Musa for allegedly swindling over seventeen million Naira (N17,600,000) in the name of the business from Ahmed Hassan Barata, former Senator who represented Adamawa Southern Senatorial District.
Babur Community Leader in Shelling Local Government Area of Adamawa State who was privy and played an intermediary role to all transactions carried, Adamu Abubakar told newsmen that Pharmacist Abusufiyan was given N17,600, 000 with the sole aim of establishing a profit-making pharmaceutical store.
But according to Adamu, the business concept introduced to Senator Barata through one of his brothers, Abdullahi Musa, a businessman in Mubi was later discovered to have been diverted and instead, he established fishing and poultry farms without prior knowledge to all parties involved.
This development made parties demanding to know more of the sudden change by Abusufuyan proved abortive from October to the time of his arrest.
He narrated that the pharmacist has been dodging and not forth coming with positive and convincing reasons, a development that led to his arrest by the police after much demand to know when the procurement and setting up of the pharmaceutical store will be done.
The community leader expressed worries that the help rendered in good faith by Senator Hassan who thought it wise to empower youngsters to be self independent but only to feel cheated within few months of business expectations to grow that was sealed in October, 2021.
Abdulsufiyan who is a staff of General Hospital Uba in Borno State, was said to have run away until he was tracked down by the Police in Gombe before confessing to have mismanaged the money meant for pharmaceutical store.
While at the Magistrate Court in Yola, the 38-year-old defendant was alleged to have fraudulently induced senator Barata who invested N17.6 million in the business of drugs supplies and sales in October 2021, but ended up diverting the said money with no explanation.
Earlier, Senator Barata, in a direct criminal complaint lodged before the criminal investigation department of Adamawa Police Command on November 23, 2021, alleged that he had transferred the money to the accused person as agreed.
He informed the police that he transferred the said money into Access Bank account number 0010832154 bearing Abusufiyan Musa and his mother’s Eco bank account 040107103 named Hamsatu Lawan Hammadi.
He alleged that the defendant did not wholly invest the money into the specified business but diverted the sum of N15.5 million to his personal use.
When arraigned in court on Tuesday, the defendant pleaded not guilty.
Thereafter, the prosecutor, Inspector Iliya Akawu, urged the court to remand Abusufiyan in prison and adjourn the matter to enable them to complete the investigation since he had denied committing the offense.
While ruling on Inspector Iliya’s application, Magistrate Digital, said that the case has been accepted for prosecution and however ordered the police to go ahead with their investigation and make their case ready for hearing.
The judge as prayed, subsequently adjourned the matter to February 28, 2022 for commencement of hearing by ordering the remand of Abusufiyan when he was arraigned before him by Adamawa State Police Command.
