Businessman bags 6 months imprisonment for misappropriating 1m

A  Wuse Zone Six Chief Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, on Monday sentenced a 43-year-old businessman, John Obetem to six months imprisonment for misappropriating N1 million.

The Magistrate, Linda Chidama, sentenced the convict after he pleaded guilty to three-count charge of criminal misappropriation, breach of trust and cheating.

Chidama sentenced Obetem, who resides in Kubwa, Abuja, to six months imprisonment for criminal misappropriation and another six months imprisonment for the offence of criminal breach of trust.

The magistrate, who did not give the convict an option to pay a fine, said that the sentence will run concurrently.

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, John Ijagbemi told the court that the complainant, Ejeh Jacob of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Abuja reported the matter to the commissioner of police, FCT, Abuja through a written petition on  Dec. 6, 2019.

Ijagbemi that the complainant on Aug. 22, 2019, entrusted N1.050 million to the convict and instructed him to pay same into the bank account of a roofing company for the purchase of roofing sheets and accessories

The prosecutor further said that the convict instead of making the payment, absconded and fraudulently converted the money to his personal use.

He said that during police investigation, it was discovered that Obetem never made the payment into the roofing company’s account.

The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 308, 312 and 322 of the Penal Code Law.