The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Mustapha Ibn Mustapha before Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, over alleged N5.5 million land fraud.
He was docked on Tuesday on a three-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and criminal conspiracy.
According to the EFCC, Mustapha and his accomplice, Mohammed Habib Alkali (currently at large), fraudulently obtained N5,555,000 from one Grace Marcel in August 2024.
They allegedly claimed the money was for the purchase of 30 plots of land at Njimtilo, behind Borno State University, in Konduga Local Government Area.
Investigations, however, revealed that the land in question belonged to the Borno State Government. Mustapha neither delivered the land nor refunded the money.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges. His counsel, S.O. Saka, applied for a trial date and requested that his client be remanded in a correctional facility.
Justice Kumaliya adjourned the case until September 23, 2025, for hearing and ordered that Mustapha be remanded in a correctional centre.
The EFCC said the case followed a petition filed by Marcel after the alleged fraudulent transaction.