By Giwa SHILE
Mr Tony Orilade, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesman, says the commission recorded 40 convictions in January.
He made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, adding that the number was cumulative convictions secured across the commission’s zonal offices.
Orilade said a breakdown of the figure showed that the commission`s Lagos office secured 20 of the convictions, followed by Abuja office which recorded nine.
“Six of the convictions were recorded by Port Harcourt and Kaduna offices with three convictions each, Kano recorded two, while Benin, Ibadan and Gombe offices had one conviction each,“ he said.
Orilade said that the convictions included that of two former officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, adding that they were sentenced to 91 year jail term and forfeiture of their properties to the Federal Government.
“The duo were found guilty of laundering N264.8 million in the build up to the 2015 general elections.
“The sum was believed to be their share of the 115 million dollars illicitly dispensed by the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke.
“Another conviction of interest is that of a fraudster, named Ibrahim Suleiman, who defrauded the former First Inland Bank, now FCMB Plc of the sum of N400,700,000.
“The money was fraudulently diverted from an account domiciled in First Inland Bank to the convict’s account from where he transferred various sums to different accounts. He bagged 32 year jail term,“ Orilade said.
The spokesman added that also of interest, was the case of Adewale Dalmeida, a staff of Dangote Cement Group who was sentenced to five year jail term.
He said that Dalmeida was sentenced for the diversion of nine trucks loaded with 800 bags of cement each valued at N15 million each, which belonged to his employer.
Orilade said that the enhanced counter-fraud strategies of the commission have also yielded good dividends following new trends in internet fraud.——NAN
