Former Permanent Secretary Bags Jail Term For Fraud

Former Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Clement Illoh, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for N14.6 million fraud by a Lagos High Court in Ikeja.

The presiding judge, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, sentenced Illoh after she found him guilty on two counts of stealing by converting the sum of N14.1m, and property of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency.

Iloh was however, acquitted of the third count of concealment.

While delivering the judgement on the first two counts, Justice Taiwo ordered the convict to make a restitution of the total sum of money back to the government, less than N3.5m already recovered from him during investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The EFCC had arraigned Illoh before the court on October 16, 2017 on a three-count charge of stealing by converting property in the sum of N14m belonging to the Nigerian Government to personal use.

The defendant allegedly supervised numerous programmes such as the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, awarded fictitious contracts to himself using his personal company and friends.

Part of the charge reads, “That you, Clement Illoh, a.k.a Clement & Bob Associate, on or about January 28, 2015 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court whilst still a Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N14,176,000.00 (Fourteen million, one hundred and seventy- six thousand naira) from the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and you hereby committed an offence contrary to Section 279(1)(b) & 285(6) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State No,11,2011.”

The court also ordered that the funds should be paid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.