By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
Justice Benjamin Lawan Manji of the Adamawa State High Court has sentenced the Managing Director of Bonghe Microfinance Bank, Grace Andreas Karka, to five years imprisonment for diverting N32 million belonging to the bank.
Karka was prosecuted by the Gombe Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on two counts of criminal conspiracy and cheating. According to court documents, the offences were committed between August 2020 and March 2021 in Yola, Adamawa State.
She was arraigned on November 11, 2024, and pleaded not guilty to the charges. The EFCC, represented by counsel Mubarak Tijani, presented witnesses and tendered several documents that proved how the defendant dishonestly moved the funds without due approval. Her defence called three witnesses in a failed bid to counter the prosecution’s evidence.
Delivering judgment on October 17, 2025, Justice Manji held that the EFCC had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and convicted Karka on both counts. She was sentenced to five years imprisonment with an option of N3 million fine on each count, to run concurrently.
The court further ordered Karka to restitute N29,877,040 to Bonghe Microfinance Bank as the outstanding balance of the stolen funds.
Her conviction followed an internal audit by the bank in 2021, which uncovered suspicious transfers from the bank’s account with First Bank Nigeria Limited to an individual account belonging to one Prince Moses Batalu, who was not a customer of the bank. Investigations revealed that Karka authorized the transfers without necessary approval, and all efforts to recover the money proved abortive.
