Accountant Emmanuel Sombo sentenced to 304 years for forgery, stealing
Emmanuel Sombo, an accountant at the Federal College of Education in Eha-Amufu, was found guilty of forgery and theft of N34. 9 million from the college’s account and was sentenced to 304 years in prison by an Enugu State High Court presided over by Justice Kenneth Okpe.
Sombo had pleaded not guilty to the 61 count charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in suit No. E/56C/2010. He was found guilty last Thursday after a protracted trial that began in 2010.
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He was accused of repeatedly forging the signatures of the college’s top officials on promissory notes in order to withdraw money totaling N34 million from the college’s First Bank account for his own use.
The Provost, the Registrar, and the Bursar, among other important officials, denied authorising the checks used by the accused to withdraw the funds.
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The signatures on the checks used in the transactions were forged, according to the forensic experts from the EFCC who examined samples of the principal officers’ signatures.
In passing judgement on the case, Justice Kenneth Okpe stated that the court had no trouble concluding that the accused person personally forged the signatures on the disputed cheques or was assisted to forge the documents based on the weight of the evidence presented.
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The circumstantial evidence presented to the court is convincing, irrefutably pointing to the fact that the accused person committed the crime of forging the disputed checks, the court is satisfied. Since he was unable to call even one college student as a witness in his defence, he acted alone and continues to act alone.
“These offense-specific elements are present in the current case, and I therefore hold that the prosecution has established all required elements beyond a reasonable doubt. As a result, I find the accused to be guilty of forgery as charged in counts 32 to 61.
“In this case, everything that constitutes theft is present. In his statement to the EFCC, the accused person claimed that even though he was aware that the disputed cheques had been fraudulently issued, his boss had asked him to cooperate.
“He cashed the checks and distributed the money in a way that permanently took ownership of it away from the Federal College of Education Eha-Amufu. As a result, I also declare the defendant guilty of the theft offence charged in counts 1 to 31.
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“I will therefore impose a 7-year prison term on Emmanuel Sombo for each theft offence listed in counts 1 through 31 of the amended information, totaling 217 years.
Along with that, I give him an additional 87 years in prison for the forgery offences listed in counts 32 to 61 of the amended information. However, starting today, the entire sentence must run simultaneously. This is my verdict, the judge said.
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