Two former Federal Medical Center (FMC) employees entered pleas of guilty on Wednesday to corruption and the use of unfair pay practices in Ebute Meta, Lagos.
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) arraigned the pair before the Federal High Court in Lagos, along with a Chief Accountant Shola Onasanya and a Principal Executive Officer Halimat Olalere, the pair’s principal executive.
After entering a plea bargain with the ICPC, the defendants, who work at the IPPIS Payroll Desk Office of the FMC, entered a guilty plea.
The defendants allegedly converted the N1.17 million in salaries of former service members to their personal use in violation of the Commission’s claim.
The Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022, as amended, specifically states that the offence is against Section 18 (2)(d).
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Enosa Omoghibo, the prosecutor, informed the trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Kala, about the plea bargain agreement, stating that a revised charge had been filed on September 4 and that the defendants should be given a copy of this new charge.
The prosecutor should have gotten the court’s approval before bringing the amended charge, the judge then reminded.
Omoghibo requested the court’s consent to replace the initial charge with the amended one, which the defense attorney accepted without objecting.
The defendants then entered a guilty plea.
In light of the development, the prosecutor requested that the plea bargain agreement be accepted as the case judgment in accordance with section 270 of the Administrative of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which referenced the development.
Justice Kala once more made the point that the court could not convict the defendants without the defendants’ tendered evidence, as stated in section 274 of the ACJA.
He noted that without supporting evidence from the prosecution, even though the guilty pleas were significant, they couldn’t all guarantee a conviction.
The court agreed to postpone the case until September 18 for a fact review, and the counsel requested an adjournment to prepare necessary documentation as a result.
The defendants allegedly committed the offence at the FMC in Ebute Meta, Lagos, between January and December 2023.
The defendants allegedly altered Olalere’s account details so that the second defendant could continue receiving pay from former employees.
Onasanya, the first defendant, allegedly instructed Olalere to deposit the former employees’ wages into his own account.
Source: Channels TV
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