Afrigather The Lagos State Excessive Courtroom in Ikeja has handed down a five-year jail sentence to Tunde Abdulramon, a former cashier, who defrauded and embezzled a staggering N64,420,900 from his employer.
The decision comes after it was revealed that the cashier had utilized the stolen funds to marry a brand new spouse and even arrange a competing enterprise for his partner, leaving his employer in monetary turmoil.
Courtroom ordered full return of defrauded cash
Justice Raliat Adebiyi, presiding over the trial, additionally mandated that Abdulramon make full restitution by returning all of the belongings he had acquired throughout his time with the corporate, together with the stolen cash.
Abdulramon confronted expenses relationship again to August 19, 2013, the place he was accused of committing 11 counts of theft and fraudulent accounting, as per the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee.
How he was caught and arrested
In his position as a cashier at Prime Grocers International Limited, a wholesale and retail client items firm located within the Oke Arin space of Lagos State, Abdulramon’s duties included amassing funds from clients and guaranteeing the cash was duly deposited into the corporate’s designated checking account.
Nonetheless, as an alternative of fulfilling his duties faithfully, he engaged in a scientific scheme of deleting invoices and diverting substantial sums of cash for private acquire, all whereas his employer remained unaware.
The fraudulent actions transpired between January 2009 and 2012. Through the trial, the prosecution referred to as upon six witnesses, together with the complainant, Constance Obi, who supplied essential insights into Abdulramon’s historical past with the corporate and his fraudulent actions.
The turning level got here when Abdulramon tried to resign, an motion Obi refused to simply accept. In response, she carried out an intensive audit of the corporate’s pc software program, which revealed the extent of the cashier’s deception, together with the deletion of invoices.
Regardless of Abdulramon’s denials through the trial, Justice Adebiyi discovered him responsible. The decide emphasised the extent of belief that had been breached and the numerous financial loss inflicted upon the employer over 4 years.
The convict’s actions had been deemed to be of excessive culpability, particularly as he concurrently engaged in a competing enterprise whereas nonetheless employed by his authentic employer, making a extreme battle of curiosity.
In her verdict, Justice Adebiyi sentenced Abdulramon to 2 and a half years for counts one to 9 and a further two and a half years for counts 10 and 11, to run concurrently. She additional ordered the disposal of belongings acquired with the proceeds of the crime, with the proceeds to be returned to the complainant.
The judgment serves as a stark reminder that monetary misconduct by staff is not going to be tolerated, and those that interact in such actions will face the complete weight of the regulation.
