Dangote’s Staff Bags 5 Years Jail Term For N15m Fraud
A staff of Dangote Cement company, Adewale Dameilda was on Monday, sentenced to five years imprisonment by an Ogun State High Court, sitting in Abeokuta, for stealing N15 million belonging to his employer.
Justice Bamgbose sentenced the four convicts to the jail term after finding them guilty of two count charge of conspiracy and stealing levelled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Dameilda was sentenced to two and half years imprisonment on each of the counts, while the second convict was given eight months each on each of the counts, 1st convict was sentenced to two and half years on each count and it shall run concurrently from the date he was arrested and detained being 14th September, 2018.
The money and property recovered from him shall be forfeited to Dangote Cement and shall enter into a bond with EFCC to be a good character and never to commit any crime again within Nigeria and oversees.
Second to fourth convicts were sentenced to eight months on each the counts.
The jail-terms according to the judge to start running from September 12, 2018, when they were first arraigned before the court and to run concurrently.
Justice Bamgbose also ordered that the sum of N1.6 million and N900, 000, 00 recovered from both the first and second convicts be forfeited to Dangote Cement upon entering a bond with EFCC.
The convicts were first arraigned before Court, on December 6 2018. They had pleaded not guilty to the charges, but upon entering a plea bargain with the commission, they changed their plea.
The complainant, Dangote Cement, alleged that Dalmeida, a Fleet Analyst; Lawal, Chief Driver; Adam, a Ghanaian driver and Olaniba, who is an agent of a contractor to Dangote Cement, diverted trucks carrying 800 bags of cement valued at over N15 million
They were alleged to have diverted the trucks carrying the bags of cement, which were meant for the company’s customers in Togo, using fake identification cards and number plate.
Count one reads: “That you, Adewale Dalmeida, Ibrahim Lawal, Afeez Olaniba and Lukman Adam, between May and August, 2018 at Ibese, within the jurisdiction of this honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to commit felony, to wit: stealing of the sum of N15, 940, 800.00 00 (Fifteen Million, Nine Hundred and Forty Thousand, Eight Hundred Naira) property of Dangote Cement Place”.
