A FEDERAL High Court in Calabar, Cross River State, has sentenced a medical doctor, Geraldine Orok Ita, to seven-years imprisonment for fraud.
The court presided over by Rosemary Oghogho-rie, sentenced Ita on a 12-count charge, bordering on forgery and diversion of funds to the tune of over N127.6 million.
The medical practitioner was prosecuted at the court by the Uyo division of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
This was contained in a statement released by the EFCC on its X handle on Saturday, February 8, 2025.
She was charged with making a forged document, specifically a FORM CAC 10 annual return for a small company, in respect of Sharpnet Concept Limited, which was dated November 6, 2014.
The document was purported to have been signed by Ita, a director at Sharpnet Concept Limited. It was alleged that Ita created the forged document with the intention of it being acted upon as genuine, thereby committing an offence under the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
Ita was also accused of taking possession of N45 million on February 14, 2019, in Calabar, which was paid by the University of Calabar into a First Bank account belonging to Rok Projects Limited.
It was alleged that she knew or ought to have known that the money was the proceeds of a crime, specifically forgery, and that by taking possession of it, she committed an offence under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended.
Although she entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, which led to the commencement of her trial in 2019, the prosecution, led by Joshua Abolarin, presented witnesses and evidence to support their case.
After careful consideration, the judge, Oghogho-rie, delivered a verdict, finding Ita guilty of the charges. The court subsequently sentenced her to seven years imprisonment, having been convinced that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.
In 2019, the EFCC received a petition from two directors of Sharpnet Concept Limited and ROK Project Limited, alleging that Ita had falsified company documents for personal gain.
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A reporter with the ICIR
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