A former Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, was on Tuesday sentenced to three months imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Jos over N450 million fraud.
Also, Raymond Dabo and Leo Jitung were given the same sentence by the court.
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They were charged with conspiracy and money laundering in 2018 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Musa Kurna who delivered the judgment gave the convicts an option to pay a fine of N1 million each.
According to The Guardian, Ochekpe, Dabo, and Jitung had entered a plea of no-case submission.
While sentencing the convicts, the judge held that after withdrawing the said amount from the bank,they did not withhold the money to themselves but delivered the same to a governorship candidate,as such were not guilty of retaining the sum for themselves.
Kurna however said they were guilty of withdrawing the N450 million which he said was above the threshold of an individual withdrawal.
He said, the offence, which contravened the provisions of Section 16(1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2013 as amended, is an offence that carries a minimum of three years imprisonment or a N10 million fine.
