Skip to main content

Man Bags 10 Years Imprisonment For N8.1million Fraud In Uyo

February 26, 2021

Delivering judgment, Justice Okon Okon, struck out count one and found the convict guilty on counts two and three.

A High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, has sentenced Sandy Witness Udokpo to 10 years in prison after being convicted of forgery and obtaining by false pretences.

In a statement on Friday, the commission's spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said the convict was arraigned on June 21, 2021 by men of the Uyo zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Image

Uwajaren said he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to the statement, the commission received a petition from one Samuel Godwin Ekanem, the General Manager of Jopen Nigeria Limited, on February 16, 2018, alleging that he dispatched 45, 000 litres of diesel valued at N8,100,000 to Udokpo who claimed to be a contractor with CCECC Nigeria Limited.

“Upon receipt of the said product, the convict disappeared into thin air and all efforts made by the complainant to reach him proved abortive, as the Local Purchase Order, LPO, presented for verification was discovered to be fake," the statement read.

The prosecution counsel, Nwandu Ukoha, presented witnesses who tendered various documents which were admitted in evidence.

Delivering judgment, Justice Okon Okon, struck out count one and found the convict guilty on counts two and three.

“The convict was sentenced to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine for the offence of obtaining by false pretences in count three, and three years’ imprisonment for the offence of forgery in count three, without an option of fine,” the statement said.

One of the counts reads, "You, Witness Sandy Udokpoh ‘male’ sometime in July 2017, at Uyo in Akwa Ibom State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud did induce and fraudulently obtain 45, 000 litres of diesel valued in the sum of eight million and one hundred thousand naira (N8, 100, 000. 00k) from one Samuel Godwin Ekanem under the pretence that you were sent by CCECC Nigeria Limited as a staff member, which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence.

“The offence is contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act."

Topics
CRIME Legal