The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned a former Executive Secretary of Adamawa State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, Lucius Mayo, and three other principal officers of the board at a Yola High Court for fraud and diversion of N132 million.
The principal officers were Paul Yaduwa, Elisha Yahaya and Rhoda Samson, the Director Finance, Accountant and Cashier of the board respectively.
The suspects were charged with conspiracy and diversion of N132 million to their personal use.
The prosecution counsel, Ahmed Muntaka, while reading the charges before Justice Nathan Musa, said Mayo sometimes between August and December 2016 obtained N84,948,600 from Adamawa State Government under the false pretence that the money would be used for the expenses of local government-sponsored pilgrims for the 2016 pilgrimage.
Muntaka told the court that the accused person diverted the money to his personal use, thereby committing an offence contrary to the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, LFN and punishable under the same Act.
He said other charges included inflation of contract price, forgery and refusal to make full disclosure of assets on EFCC Assets Declaration form.
He further alleged that the principal officers also defrauded some self-sponsored pilgrims by denying them the performance of their religious act in 2016.
According to the prosecution, on September 14, 2016, four self-sponsored pilgrims paid their hard monies – N2.54 million – into the board’s account but the money was withdrawn by the board and diverted.