The Managing Director of Soroti District-based Teso Talents Foundation has been convicted to one year in prison after pleading guilty to stealing Shs3.1m money meant for paying fees for orphans.
Boniface Eyagu, a resident of Asuret Sub-county in Soroti District, who appeared before Ngora Magistrate Isaac Boniface Abilu on Thursday, agreed to have received Shs3.5m from United Kingdom-based donors through his DFCU Bank Account number 0155001593014, Soroti branch, for the payment of the learners at Vienna Nursery and Primary School in Ngora District, but instead he only deposited Shs400,000 and used the rest for individual gain.
His trouble started when the school director reached out to the donors, only to learn that the money had been remitted through Eyagu, prompting police intervention.
“The UK donors contacted police to arrest Eyagu; upon interrogation, he accepted receiving the money through his DFCU bank account held at Soroti branch,’ Prosecution said.
The prosecution argued that though the convict has no record of theft, his conduct has the ability to scare potential investors from coming to the country.
It added that the beneficiaries are pupils who need a better future through sponsorship, noting that, as the state, a better sentence which benefits the charge and the act should be pronounced.
Before the magistrate pronounced his judgement, Boniface Eyagu, while defending himself in the dock, said that he is a married man with a two-month-old baby but also caretaker of his parents, adding that on account of pleading guilty, he needed a fair judgment.
In his judgement, Magistrate Isaac Boniface Abilu said that the crime committed carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Mr Abilu said that despite hearing from the convict, he failed in his role of fulfilling his mandate of protecting the pupils; his act of abusing the donor fund risks the future of the children.
“We are required to put the future and the interest of the children at heart; whereas you are presumed to be a first offender, the court must send out a deterrent message to others, which message is clear and to the entire community in Ngora,’ The magistrate explained.
“Based on the above, I therefore sentence you to one year imprisonment.” He ruled.
He also directed that the convict pays back the UK-based donor Shs3. 5M within a period of two months, adding that failure to do so will attract more legal procedures.
Court also heard that the same convict is wanted in Soroti and Kapelebyong districts over similar offences involving theft of Shs60M from another UK- and USA-based donor.