By: Hope Times News Desk
The High Court’s Anti-Corruption Division has sentenced Fredrick Caulker, Head of Operations at United Bank for Africa (UBA), to forty (40) years in prison for misappropriating public funds.
Justice Aiah Simeon Allieu of the Court of Appeal handed down the ruling after a full trial in which Caulker was found guilty on four counts related to diverting statutory tax payments intended for the National Revenue Authority (NRA).
Caulker, a resident of No. 38A Taylor Street, Wellington, Freetown, faced a five-count indictment, including conspiracy to misappropriate public funds under Section 36(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 12 of 2008, as amended. The court, however, acquitted him on the conspiracy charge.
The prosecution presented eight witnesses, including a banker from Commerce Mortgage Bank and a former subordinate of Caulker, who detailed multiple occasions when PAYE and withholding tax funds from the Small Holder Commercialization Agri-Business Development Project (SCADeP) were redirected from the NRA to alternative accounts under Caulker’s instructions.
Justice Allieu sentenced Caulker to ten years on each count, to run consecutively, totaling forty years. The court also ordered him to repay Le 1,980,233.40 to the Consolidated Revenue Fund within ninety (90) days.
Members of the public seeking further details can contact the Judiciary Communications and Public Affairs Unit, visit www.judiciary.gov.sl, or follow the Judiciary of Sierra Leone on social media.