An accountant at the Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital [UDUTH] in Sokoto has been arrested over alleged N250m fraud at the facility.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission [ICPC], in a statement through its spokesperson, Rasheedat Okoduwa, said that over-payment and deductions on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System [IPPIS] were channelled into the private accounts of an individual and a company.
It added that it had also commenced efforts to recover the proceeds of the fraud, through the seizure of exotic cars and real estates, from the principal suspect.
The statement added the accountant was being questioned to unravel all those behind the fraudulent act.
The statement said,
“Checks by the commission on how a critical national infrastructure such as the IPPIS could be compromised indicated likely negligence on the part of the management of the teaching hospital and other loopholes.
“For instance, failure to cross-check and reconcile the execution of its budget and allowing officers from the Finance and Account department to access another officer’s password on the platform, present real threats and vulnerabilities.”
The ICPC revealed that the suspect took advantage of the window of opportunity on the IPPIS platform that allowed Ministries, Department and Agencies [MDAs] to edit salaries that had been processed by the Office of the Accountant -General of the Federation [AGF] before they are finalized or paid, to substitute the genuine destination account numbers with those of his co-conspirators before payment.
The agency said findings indicate that the platform did not match account names with account numbers.
“This loophole created the opportunity for the fraudster to divert the funds successfully for the while that the fraud lasted,” the statement observed.
