A federal civil servant, Esther Onukaogu, and her siblings, Ebenuwa Chinazo and Onukaogu Joshua were on Tuesday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before an FCT High court sitting in Wuse, Abuja.
The trio appeared before Justice A. S. Adepoju. They are facing trial on 13-count charge bordering on conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretences.
Read also: Top civil servants use multiple ATM cards to defraud government – Gov. Shettima
Esther(first right) allegedly added Joshua and Chinazo’s names into the database of Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, one of the systems through which the Federal Government pays salaries,
Esther was said to have inputted the names of her siblings as staff of Federal Ministry of Works and Federal Ministry of Education while she was working in a consulting firm.
The duo allegedly drew salaries as ghost workers from their respective ministries for three years to the tune of N9m before nemesis caught up with them.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Subsequently, the judge granted each of them bail in the sum of N5m with one surety each in like sum, and adjourned the matter till September 21, 2017 for hearing.
