In a significant development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Aisha Salihu Malkohi, also known as Ummitah or Arab Money, and her husband, Abubakar Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud (currently at large). The charges levied against the couple pertain to a total misappropriation of funds amounting to N410,518,000 (Four Hundred and Ten Million, Five Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira only).
The arraignment took place on Friday, December 8, 2023, before Justice Aisha Mahmud of the Kano State High Court situated in Kano.
One of the five counts reads, “That you, Aisha Salihu Malkohi, and Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud (now at large) on or about 2022 in Kano, Kano state, within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, did obtain the sum of Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-Nine Thousand Naira only (N225,259,000) belonging to Farida Ibrahim between 6th January to 16th December, 2022.” The charge further alleges that the funds were falsely claimed to be for the purchase and supply of 64 cars from Saudi Arabia, constituting an offense under Section 1 (a)&(b) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud-Related Offences Act, 2006.
In response to the charges, the defendants, Aisha Salihu Malkohi and Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud (in absentia), pleaded not guilty to all five counts.
Following the pleas, Zarami Mohammed, the EFCC counsel, requested a trial date. The defense counsel, G.I Abubakar, subsequently moved a bail application for Aisha Salihu Malkohi, which was met with opposition from Mohammed.
Justice Mahmud, presiding over the case, adjourned the matter until December 15, 2023, for a ruling on the bail application. In the interim, the defendant was remanded in EFCC custody.
Aisha Salihu Malkohi came under the EFCC’s scrutiny following a petition from two complainants, Farida Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohammed Abdulrahman. The petition alleged that Malkohi, in collaboration with her husband, perpetrated fraud by deceiving them with promises of supplying cars, gold, electronics, and kitchen utensils from Saudi Arabia.
Upon receiving the petition, the EFCC initiated a comprehensive investigation, uncovering that the defendant had amassed the substantial sum of N410,518,000 through bank accounts linked to her company, Golden Grass Hill International Ltd, and her husband’s Zenith Bank account. The investigation also disclosed that the funds were diverted into multiple bank accounts, implicating both Aisha Salihu Malkohi and her husband, Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud, who is presently evading arrest.
