A former deputy chief registrar of the Oyo State High Court, Mutiat Adio, was on Friday sentenced to five years imprisonment after she was found guilty in a one-count charge of stealing.
The convict was arraigned by the EFCC, she was accused of stealing N22.3 million from the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, an offence that runs contrary to section 390(11) of criminal Code, Cap.38, Laws of Oyo State.
The convict had earlier on May 18, 2018, been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for obtaining under false pretence a sum of N9.2 million from Abiodun Olonade, a Nigerian resident in Ireland. The sentence was without an option of fine.
The former registrar, in the latest criminal charge, allegedly abused her office as the secretary of a cooperative society of the Oyo State judicial officers by inflating the total sum approved for loan facilities granted her members by the GTBank, and converting ‘the difference’ to personal use.
The convict was said the ‘facilitator’ of the loan which totaled about N90 million.
She had pleaded not guilty to the offence when she was first arraigned on April 25, 2017, necessitating the commencement of her trial.
The prosecution, led by Ben Ubi, called five witnesses, while the accused counsel called two.
After listening to arguments from the parties, Justice Muniru Olagunju found Mrs Adio guilty of the offence and sentenced her to five years in prison without an option of fine.
She was also ordered to pay back the sum of N20.9 million to the GTBank.