{"id":5139,"date":"2022-11-16T08:54:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T07:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebirareporters.com\/?p=5139"},"modified":"2022-11-16T08:54:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T07:54:32","slug":"how-n4-8m-fraud-fake-tellers-were-uncovered-in-kogi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebirareporters.com\/how-n4-8m-fraud-fake-tellers-were-uncovered-in-kogi\/","title":{"rendered":"How N4.8m Fraud, Fake Tellers Were Uncovered in Kogi"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Revenue Task Force set up by the Acting Chief Judge of Kogi State High Court, Hon. Justice Josiah Majebi,<\/a> has uncovered N4.8million fraud allegedly carried out by some judiciary workers in the State.<\/p>\n

The Chairman of the task force Mr. Sunday Paul disclosed the revelation of the fraud on Tuesday when he submitted a report of investigation to Justice Majebi.<\/p>\n

Presenting his recent findings, Paul said he had routinely embarked on checking the account inflows of the court, in conjunction with the court\u2019s Deposit Money Bank into which payments and fines due to the court were meant to be paid.<\/p>\n

According to him, in the course of doing that, he stumbled into a syndicated mechanism of fraud where payments to the court by legal chambers, their practitioners and other individuals were manipulated with customized bank tellers and bank stamps to defraud the court.<\/p>\n

Explaining further, Paul said, \u201cIn the report dated 9th November, 2022 and captioned \u201cFraudulent Practice\u201d, we gathered, amongst other findings, that in monthly reconciliation of accounts, the sum of N2.4m said to have been paid into the court\u2019s account was not paid despite evidence of payment showing same.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the 28th October, 2022, the sum of two million, four hundred thousand naira (N2,400,000) was paid as judgement debt revenue and bank teller was presented as evidence of payment. I went to the bank on the 7th November, 2022 to collect bank statements for my monthly reconciliation for the month of October, 2022. Amazingly, the said N2.4 million was not in the bank statement,\u201d the report indicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of curiosity, we consulted the court\u2019s relevant department before revisiting the bank where he further confirmed that there were other similar unremitted transactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my curiosity to know what happened to the said money, I immediately informed the Process Unit where the money is supposed to come from. I photocopied the teller and I took it to the bank for verification. My verification reveals that the money was not paid into the revenue account.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, the bank teller presented as evidence of payment to the Process Unit, the Stamp on the teller and the signature on it were all fake. The fake signature also tallies with those of previous years as an indication of how long the fraud has been perpetrated,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Responding to the discoveries, the Acting Chief Judge, Hon Justice Josiah Majebi said the matter was already before the police for thorough investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have inaugurated this Revenue Task Force (RTF) to urgently verify all payments allegedly made to the High Court of Justice in the last two years. This ad-hoc Task Force will move to all revenue generating departments and all the courts in the State.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will verify all payments made and under what subheads, scrutinize available records and determine whether there are supposed to be records where there are none; confirm, or not, payments made to the court during the period and their worth; analyze all bank documents, including deposit tellers and recommend appropriate remedial actions to be taken,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He demanded credibility and honesty from management and staff of the court, saying that the institution must be preserved for both present and future generations.<\/p>\n