UBA Head Of Operations Sentenced To 40 Years In Prison For Multi-Million Leone Fraud
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The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court in Freetown has sentenced the Head of Operations at United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fredrick Caulker, to a cumulative 40 years’ imprisonment for corruption-related offences involving the misappropriation of public funds.
Delivering judgment at the Main Law Courts Building, Court of Appeal Judge Justice Aiah Simeon Allieu found Caulker guilty on four counts of misappropriation of public funds, contrary to Section 36(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 12 of 2008, as amended by the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2019.
The offences stemmed from PAYE and withholding tax payments made by the Small Holder Commercialization Agri-Business Development Project (SCADeP) to the National Revenue Authority (NRA).
According to the prosecution, Caulker abused his position as Head of Operations at UBA by diverting tax payments meant for designated NRA accounts into other accounts on various occasions. He was accused of orchestrating these diversions using his authority within the bank.
During the trial, the prosecution called eight witnesses, including a banker from Commerce Mortgage Bank. A key witness, identified as Prosecution Witness Two (PW2), a former subordinate of the accused testified that in November 2023, he processed several financial transactions based on Caulker’s instructions.
PW2 told the court that amounts including Le293,749.80, Le169,134.29, Le1,291,623.50, and Le255,725.81, which were supposed to be paid into NRA accounts, were instead redirected to other accounts at the direction of the accused.
The witness further revealed that in one instance, Caulker claimed an earlier transfer was a mistake following a phone call and subsequently instructed that the funds be paid into a different account, providing specific account details.
On count five, which bordered on conspiracy to commit a corruption offence, Justice Allieu ruled that the prosecution failed to establish the essential elements of conspiracy. Caulker was therefore acquitted and discharged on that count.
However, on counts one to four, the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment on each count, ordering that the sentences run consecutively, bringing the total jail term to 40 years.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court ordered Caulker to refund Le1,980,233.40 to the Consolidated Revenue Fund within 90 days from the date of judgment.
Source: SierraLeone Loaded
