A  Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced a bureau de change operator, Dabo Malam Ardi, to two months’ imprisonment for engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions.

PUNCH METRO learnt this from a statement shared by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on its official X account on Tuesday.

According to the anti-graft agency, Ardi was arraigned before Justice F. N. Ogazi by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC on a one-count charge bordering on illegal foreign exchange transactions.

The charge read, “That you, Dabo Malam Ardi, sometime in 2026 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994, and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.”

 The EFCC stated that the defendant pleaded guilty after the charge was read to him.

Following the guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, S. I. Suleiman, reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.

Justice Ogazi subsequently found Ardi guilty and sentenced him to two months’ imprisonment, with an option of an N80,000 fine.

The commission quoted the court as convicting and sentencing the defendant after he admitted to carrying out foreign exchange transactions outside the official foreign exchange market, contrary to the provisions of the law.

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