A Borno State woman, Kalthum Mustapha, has been sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding three men of N1.3 million in a food supply scam.

Justice Aisha Kumaliya of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, delivered the judgment on Wednesday. The case, prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), revealed that Kalthum collected the money from her victims, promising to supply Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food, also known as “tammua packages,” but never delivered the goods or returned the money.

The victims, identified as Muhammad Lawan Sani, Abubakar Umar, and Yusuf Jafar, paid her in June 2022 for the supply, but their trust was betrayed.

During the trial, EFCC prosecutors Mukhtar Ahmed and Faruku Muhammad presented witnesses and tendered documents to prove the case.

Justice Kumaliya found Kalthum guilty of the one-count charge of obtaining money under false pretence, an offence contrary to Section 320(a) and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code Cap 102, Laws of Borno State.

She was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with an option of a N50,000 fine. In addition, the court ordered her to pay N635,000 in restitution to her victims. Failure to do so will result in an extra two years in prison.

The EFCC shared the conviction on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on Friday, warning the public to be cautious of advance-fee fraud schemes.