EFCC’s witness tells court how staff of FIRS diverted govt funds to her personal account
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has heard how the Head of Stakeholders Unit of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), Emmanuella Eteta Ita diverted and converted large sums of money meant for Stakeholders’ assignments to her private school, Surestart School Ltd.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Emmanuella Eteta Ita over alleged fraud in the FIRS to the tune of N2 billion.
EFCC 6th prosecution witness (PW 6), Ijeoma Maltida made the revelation on Monday before the trial judge, Justice Giwa Ogunbanjo while giving evidence during cross examination by the defence counsel Paul Etokoro.
It was discovered that Emmanuella Eteta Ita operated Surestart School Ltd while still serving as the Head of the Stakeholders Unit of the Federal Inland Revenue Services.
While giving her testimony during a cross-examination by defense counsel, Paul Erokoro, the witness revealed that Eteta Ita, the first defendant, undertook some Stakeholders’ assignments and the funds meant for the projects were traced into her account with the payment narration.
“Investigations showed that the same funds were sent directly into the account of the second defendant, Surestart School Ltd.
“When she came to our office, we took her statement, we were cordial with her, and she was treated very well with utmost respect. While she was with us for reconciliation, she started bringing documents, and she also opted to pay back for some reconciliation she could not account for. She said in her statement that she will pay back the money, I don’t know where she got the money from, and so far, she has refunded about N17 million, though she told us that she benefited about N5 million from the program,” the witness testified.
“I don’t know the standard practice of sourcing for funds before asking for reimbursement, and it is not within the scope of our investigation. All I know is that she undertook some of the stakeholders’ events, and we saw that those monies that came from FIRS went directly into the account of the second defendant, and the description was that the assignment was not done”, she said.
According to Matilda, the vendors that were supposed to do the events have given their evidence in court and testified that the receipts didn’t come from them. She further claimed that those receipts were given to her by one Daniel, who was a staff of FIRS.
In her further testimony, she said, “We were told he was late and we demanded for the death certificate which was given to us. We requested for his account details and we discovered he was also a beneficiary. We wrote to FIRS, UBA, System Spec, and invited everyone involved in this matter and everything we have here are as a result of our investigations,” she said.
After the cross-examination, Justice Ogunbanjo adjourned the matter till March 20, and 21, 2024, for continuation of cross-examination.