A Federal High Court, sitting in Kaduna presided over by Justice P. Mallong has sentenced a former Registrar of the court, Mr Joseph Udoh to four years imprisonment for laundering the sum of N80 million.
Udoh and his wife, Grace, were in December 2019 arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission on 12-count for alleged misappropriation of N80m deposited in the court by a litigant.
According to a statement on Thursday by the ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, the convict reportedly issued cheques in the name of his wife, also a staff member of the Federal High Court of Justice, Abuja, and used the money to acquire properties in some major cities across the country.
Based on a plea bargain agreement entered with the convict, the charges against him were amended to four counts and those against his wife dropped.
He pleaded guilty to the charges.
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 2015.
Counsel to the defendant, Gbenga Ogunniran, concurred with the submission of the prosecutor, stating that “the convict did not only embarrass himself but also embarrassed his family.”
He pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, especially looking at the fact that the convict is a family man with an aged mother.
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