Kaduna Shari’a Court Jails Businesswoman 9 Months for Cheating Partners

A Shari’a court sitting in Rigasa, Kaduna State, has sentenced a businesswoman, Maimuna Muhammad, to nine months’ imprisonment after finding her guilty of defrauding her business partners in a series of transactions.

The ruling, delivered on Thursday, followed her guilty plea to charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds brought against her.

Prosecutor Inspector Sambo Maigari told the court that the first complainant supplied Maimuna with bags of rice and beans on credit, with an understanding that she would sell the goods and return the proceeds. Similarly, the second complainant entrusted her with bedsheets and curtains under the same arrangement. Instead of honoring her obligations, Maimuna failed to remit the agreed payments, offering excuses before eventually relocating from Rigasa to Maraban Jos, a move the complainants interpreted as an attempt to evade her responsibilities.

After reviewing the evidence and considering her admission of guilt, the trial judge convicted her on all three counts and sentenced her to three months in prison for each offence, to run consecutively, making a total of nine months.

The court, however, provided her the option of paying a fine of ₦7,000 for each count.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court ordered Maimuna to make full restitution to her victims. She is to refund ₦350,000 to the first complainant for the food items, along with ₦10,000 as compensation for legal costs, and ₦162,000 to the second complainant for the textile goods, plus another ₦10,000 for filing expenses.

The court emphasized the importance of upholding trust in business transactions and warned that those who take advantage of partners for personal gain will face the weight of the law.

Maimuna is now expected to either serve the prison term or pay the stipulated fines while complying with the restitution order issued by the court.