EFCC arrests ex-Kaduna contractor over alleged N30bn fraud, medical scam

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested Bashir Bello Ibrahim, a former contractor to the Kaduna State Government and Chief Executive Officer of Formal Act Legacy Limited, over an alleged N30 billion fraud involving fake contracts and multiple victims.

In a statement posted Friday via its official X handle, the EFCC disclosed that Ibrahim was apprehended by operatives from the Kaduna Zonal Directorate following no fewer than 251 petitions accusing him of impersonation and extensive financial crimes.

According to the anti-graft agency, although Ibrahim’s contract with the Kaduna State Government was terminated in October 2023, he continued posing as a consultant for the 23 local governments in the state and the United Charity Foundation, falsely claiming links to the Sustainable Development Goals Office.

The EFCC revealed that Ibrahim allegedly claimed to hold a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government to secure intervention grants for local government projects. However, the MoU had been revoked over non-performance.

Despite this, he went ahead to award fraudulent contracts, convincing contractors to supply construction materials, medical equipment, and health products under the guise of local government projects.

“After collecting the supplies, he warehoused them without notifying the LGAs, defaulted on payments, and even sold some of the items,” the EFCC said.

The operation led to the recovery of Toyota Hilux vehicles, ambulances, buses, dispatch motorcycles, generators, and a stockpile of drugs and medical equipment, many of which, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), were expired, counterfeit, or stored in unsafe conditions.

Umar Ahmad Suleiman of NAFDAC’s Federal Task Force confirmed that some of the medical products were unregistered, expired, or outright fake. A pharmacist with the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, Abubakar Isa Balarabe, described the storage conditions as “unfit for any medical product.”

The EFCC further alleged that Ibrahim sold fake contract papers through proxies and illegally altered contract terms, violating the MoU’s conditions before it was annulled.

The anti-graft agency confirmed that the suspect would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations.