Court registrar jailed fours years for money laundering

A court registrar, Joseph Etefia Udoh, has been sentenced to fours years in prison by a Federal High Court, sitting in Kaduna for laundering the sum of N80 million.

Udoh and his wife, Grace, were arraigned before Justice P.H Mallong in December 2019 arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on a twelve-count charge for alleged misappropriation of N80 million.

The money, deposited in the court by a litigant, was said to have been used by the convict to acquire properties in major cities in the country.

He was said to have issued cheques in the name of his wife, also a staff of the Federal High Court of Justice, Abuja, to perpetrate the crime.

Based on a plea bargain agreement entered with the convict, the charges labelled against him were amended to four counts and those against his wife dropped. When Charges were read before the convict, he pleaded guilty to all of them.

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The prosecution counsel, Shehu Yahaya, urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant according to the terms of the plea bargain agreement before the court as provided in section 270(10) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

The defence counsel, Gbenga Ogunniran, Esq also concurred with the submission of the prosecution counsel, stating that the convict did not only embarrass himself, but also embarrassed his family.

Oguniran pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, especially looking at the fact that the convict is a family man, funding his children’s school and taking care of his aged mother.

The presiding Judge, Justice Mallong, while delivering judgement, convicted Mr. Udoh to 12 months imprisonment on each count, but to run concurrently from the date of his arraignment, which was from 12th December, 2019.

The court also ruled that all properties seized by ICPC in the course of investigation, as listed in the schedule of the plea bargain agreement be forfeited to the Commission, and be sold with the proceeds given to the victims of the crime.

The judge also ordered that a lien be placed on the convict’s retirement benefits and/or pension savings for any balance still outstanding against the defendant after the sale of the forfeited properties. And in the event of any outstanding sum, and balance payment by the convict remain unpaid, same is to be paid by instalments as agreed by the complainant and the convict in accordance with section 429 of the ACJA, 2015.

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