The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has prosecuted a medical doctor, Geraldine Ita, for a N127 million fraud in Calabar.
The agency revealed it in a statement on its X handle this Saturday, saying that Ita, prosecuted by the Uyo Directorate of the EFCC, faced a 12-count charge of forgery and diversion of funds.
EFCC said Justice Rosemary Oghogho-rie of the Federal High Court in Calabar, Cross River State, sentenced Ita to seven years in prison.
One of the charges read:
“That you, Dr. Geraldine Orok Ita, on or about November 6, 2014, in Calabar, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did make a forged document to wit: FORM CAC 10 (Annual Return For A Small Company) in respect of Sharpnet Concept Limited, purportedly signed by Mrs. Rose Orok Ita, a director in Sharpnet Concept Limited, with the intent that the document may be acted upon as genuine, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 1 (2) (C) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act Cap M 17 of the Revised Edition (Law of the Federation of Nigeria) and punishable under Section 1 (2) (c) of the same Act.”
Another charge stated that Ita took possession of N45 million from the University of Calabar (UNICAL) through a First Bank account belonging to ROK Projects Limited, knowing the money was part of the proceeds of crime.
Ita pleaded guilty to the charges but was proven guilty following the presentation of evidence and witnesses by the EFCC prosecution team led by Joshua Abolarin.
Ita’s legal troubles began in 2019 when the EFCC received a petition from Sharpnet Concept Limited and ROK Project Limited. Two of the companies’ directors alleged that Ita forged documents, fraudulently altered company records, and removed them from the companies’ directorship.
The petitioners also accused Ita of appointing a new company secretary, changing the companies’ registered addresses, and reallocating shares for personal gain.
With her conviction, Ita will serve seven years in a Nigeria Correctional Centre.