Court Jails IPPIS Accountants 3 Years For Diverting Salaries Of Ex-FMC Workers

A Federal High Court successful Lagos has sentenced 2 employees of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) to 3 years successful situation for diverting salaries of immoderate erstwhile unit members of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) successful Ebute Meta, Lagos.

Justice Ibrahim Kala jailed the 2 civilian servants, a Chief Accountant, Shola Onasanya and a Principal Executive Officer successful the accounts department, Halimat Olalere, aft they pleaded blameworthy to a two-count complaint of corruption and wealth laundering brought against them by the Independent Corrupt Practices and different Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The convicts, who enactment astatine the FMC’s IPPIS Payroll Desk Office, pleaded blameworthy aft entering into a plea bargain statement with the ICPC.

As portion of the plea bargain agreement, the justice ordered some convicts to wage a good of N100,000 each.

He besides mandated the contiguous closure of the UBA and Union Bank accounts (numbers 1004722884 and 0171442130) utilized successful committing the crime.

The ICPC had claimed that the defendants unlawfully converted the sum of N1.17 cardinal for idiosyncratic usage by failing to halt the salaries of employees who had exited the service.

The Commission had besides claimed that the convicts committed the offence betwixt January and December 2023 astatine the FMC successful Ebute Meta, Lagos.

The prosecution besides told the justice that the defendants had altered the relationship details of Olalere, the 2nd defendant, to proceed receiving salaries meant for erstwhile staff.

The archetypal convict (Onasanya) was said to person directed Olalere to transportation the salaries of the erstwhile workers received into his ain account.

The 2nd suspect was accused of assisting the archetypal suspect successful converting the full sum of N1.17 million, which constitutes proceeds of corruption.

The ICPC had maintained that the offence contravenes Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022.