A Federal High Court in Kaduna has sentenced a former Registrar of the court, Joseph Etefia Udoh to four years imprisonment for laundering the sum of N80 million.
The court convicted Udoh to 12 months imprisonment on each of the four counts against him but said it was to run concurrently from the date of his arraignment, which was from 12th December 2019.
While delivering judgement, Justice P. H. Mallong ruled that all properties seized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) in the course of investigation, as listed in the schedule of a plea bargain agreement be forfeited to the Commission, and be sold with the proceeds given to the victims of the crime.
Udoh and his wife, Grace Udoh were last year arraigned by the ICPC on a 12 count charge for alleged misappropriation of N80m that was deposited in the court by a litigant.
The convict reportedly issued cheques in the name of his wife, also a staff of the Federal High Court of Justice, Abuja, and used the money to acquire properties in some major cities across Nigeria.
A plea bargain agreement earlier entered with the convict had amended the charges levelled against him from 12 to four counts and those against his wife were dropped following which Udo had pleaded guilty to all of them.
According to a statement by the ICPC, the prosecution counsel, Shehu Yahaya had urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant according to the terms of the plea bargain agreement as provided in section 270(10) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
Counsel to the defendant, Gbenga Ogunniran, while concurring with the submission of the prosecution pleaded the court to temper justice with mercy telling the court that the convict is a family man who was funding his children’s school and taking care of his aged mother.
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