A Yola High Court in Adamawa state has ordered for the sell of property of Ibrahim Mustapha, a fake medical doctor convicted and sentenced to 54 years in prison.
Justice Nathan Musa, declared that the property of the convicted fake doctor be auctioned by the Registry of the court, and the money be remitted into the central treasury of the state government.
This is the first case that the provisions of a law to make comprehensive provisions for confiscation, forfeiture and management of asset derived from unlawful activities enacted by the house of assembly in 2018 that has been applied in the state.
It could be recalled that Justice Nathan of the High Court in December 2019, convicted and sentenced Mustapha following his plea of guilt when he was arraigned in court by Department of State Security (DSS).
Mustapha secured employment with fake documents and was promoted to the rank of principal medical doctor and carried out operations on dozens of patients.
The convict who was not satisfied with the verdict, appealed the matter to the Court of Appeal in Yola and in its judgement, the court upheld the decision of the lower court.
But a motion on notice brought pursuant to section 42 (1) (a) of the state proceeds of crime law, 2018 by counsel to the state/applicant, Barr. M. A. Adamu (Senior State Counsel II), prayed the court grant forfeiture of property including Mercedes Benz, Toyota Corolla saloon, plot of land and a Samsung tablet.
An affidavit in support of the motion by Barr. D. I. Kulthu, told the court that the items being proceeds of crime were recovered and are currently in the custody of the Department of the Security Service(DSS).
It added that the receipts of purchase which show the period of purchase between 2015 to 2019 when the convict was employed as staff of the state government by the state Hospital Service Management Board.
It explained that the convict bought the Toyota Corolla in his wife's name in order to conceal the real ownership of the car, saying that the wife is a full time house wife that does not engage in any business or work to generate income, but only depends on her husband for her livelihood.
It further disclosed that where a person is convicted of an offence, the court is empowered by the proceeds and crimes law to make an order for forfeiture in relation to any asset derived from the proceeds of the offence.
In its ruling, the court presided by Justice Nathan Musa ordered that the property be auctioned, and the money be remitted into the central treasury of the state government.
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