On 2nd March, 2021, one Maryam Abu Shinga was convicted and ordered by Justice Lewis Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Kano, to pay in restitution to those she defrauded in the sum of N110, 000,000.
The female scammer had enticed her victims by convincing them to invest N500,000 in a gold mining venture with a return of 300% within 4 weeks. Her trick was to pay the former victim with the money she got from the latter victim. At the peak of the victims’ investment, she purportedly converted N394,541,910 (Three Hundred and Ninety-four Million, Five Hundred and Forty-one Thousand, Nine Hundred and Ten Naira) contributed by victims for private use.
She initially pleaded not guilty on January 23, 2020 but later asked for plea bargain leading to judge’s restitution order.