A Federal High Court in Lagos has sentenced two employees of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to three years imprisonment for embezzling salaries of past employees of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Meta.
Justice Ibrahim Kala delivered the judgment against Chief Accountant, Shola Onasanya, and Principal Executive Officer, Halimat Olalere, after they pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of corruption and money laundering filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The duo, who worked at the FMC’s IPPIS Payroll Desk Office, entered into a plea bargain agreement with the ICPC. In accordance with the agreement, the court ordered each of them to pay N100,000 fine in addition to the imprisonment.
The UBA and Union Bank accounts used in the commission of the offence were also ordered by Justice Kala to be closed down with immediate effect.
The offenders illegally converted N1.17 million between December 2023 and January 2023 by declining to stop the retired workers’ salaries, the ICPC stated. Investigations also revealed that Olalere’s account details were altered to enable the continuous collection of the funds, and Onasanya instructed her to deposit the embezzled salaries into his account.
Offences, the ICPC added, were contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2022.
