The Convicted Army, Major-General Umar Mallam Mohammed
Major General Umar Mallam Mohammed, the former Managing Director of Nigerian Army Properties (NAPL), has been convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for forgery, stealing and theft of millions of U.S. Dollars belonging to Nigerian Army, by an eight-man special court martial in Abuja.
Pronouncing the sentence, president of the court, which sat at Army Officers Mess 1, Asokoro, Major General James Myam, said the convicted Army Major-General was found guilty of 14 out 18 count charges leveled against him.
According to Myam, on count 1, Mohammed was found guilty of stealing and sentenced to five years imprisonment with an order to pay back $1,045,400 to the Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL).
On count 2, he was found guilty of stealing and sentenced to five years imprisonment, with an order to pay back $400,800 to NAPL. He was also found guilty of stealing on count 3 and sentenced to five years imprisonment with an order to pay back $85,400 to NAPL.
He was also found guilty of stealing on count 4 and was therefore sentenced to five years imprisonment with an order to pay back $35,300. On count 5, the General was found guilty of stealing and sentenced to five years imprisonment with an order to pay back $55,500. He was also found guilty of stealing on count 6 and therefore sentenced to five years imprisonment with an order to pay back $46,500.
On count 7, however, Mohammed was not guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit forgery and was discharged and acquitted.
On count 8, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to 7years in prison, while on count 9, he was pronounced guilty of theft and sentenced to 5years in prison with an order to pay back $430,800 USD.
On count 10, the General was cleared on conspiracy to forge document and was discharged and acquitted.
On count 11, he was also not guilty of forgery, while he was declared guilty of conduct to prejudice of service discipline on count 12 and was sentenced to 2years in prison.
On count 13, he was found guilty of theft and sentenced to 5years in prison and ordered to return N74 million to NAPL.
On count 14, he was guilty of criminal misappropriation and sentenced to two years in prison with an order to return N590million to NAPL properties.
On count 15 also, he was sentenced to two years in prison for criminal misappropriation and ordered to pay back N255 million to NAPL properties.
On count 16, he was also sentenced to two years in prison for criminal conspiracy and ordered to pay back N559,172,000 to NAPL properties.
On count 17, however, the former MD of NAPL was discharged and acquitted for criminal misappropriation. He was found guilty for criminal misappropriation on count 18 and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.
The court president noted that the sentencing would run concurrently and is subject to confirmation by the confirming authority.
Recall that the convicted Army General Mohammed, who was indicted by a military Police investigation and recommended for trial, was previously denied bail by the court because of the large amount of money allegedly stolen by officer noting that it could encourage him to abscond.
The is being defended by a legal team comprising two Senior Advocates of Nigeria and six lawyers, including a retired military officer.
Source –Guardian
