By Our Correspondent
Two former staff members of the Federal Inland Revenue Services FIRS, Mohammed Adamu and Eunice Udokamma, were on Wednesday, convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for engaging in the forgery of Income Tax Clearance Certificate.
The duo were accused of collecting the sum of N120, 000 from one Vincent Enoghase, and presented him with a bogus tax clearance certificate to cover for a period of three years spanning from 2004 to 2006.
The Prosecution told the court that the convicts, equally forged the signature of one MD. Naanmiap, a tax controller with the FIRS, and imposed it on the fake document with serial number 05027875 and file number ABJ/PIT/07/CAITO/380.
In his judgement, trial Justice Inyang Ekwo held that the Prosecution proved its case against the Defendants, beyond every reasonable doubt.
He found them guilty on all the five-count charge that was preferred against them and sentenced them to one year on each of the counts, without an option of fine.
Meanwhile, following plea for mercy by counsel to the convicts, Justice Ekwo, ordered that the sentence should run concurrently.
By the court order, the 1st convict, Adam, a dismissed staff of the FIRS, will spend one year in prison, beginning from April 27, while the 2nd convict, Udokamma, a house wife and mother of three children, will also spend one year in prison without option of fine, but beginning from April 13, 2010 when she was arrested and made to spend over two and half years in detention.
Justice Ekwo held that the offence committed by the convicts, which is contrary to section 49 (1) of the FIRS Act No 13 of 2007, was established beyond doubt by the lawyer that represented the Federal Government, Mr James Binang, a Deputy Director, Legal Service for the FIRS.
He held that the convicts failed to contradict the evidence that was adduced against them by six witnesses that testified before the court.
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