The Federal High Court 15th Criminal Bench at Lideta on Tuesday May 17, 2016 sentenced Woldeselassie Woldemichael, former internal intelligence head at the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), to 10 years in prison and a fine of 50,000 birr.
Woldeselassie was charged by the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) with abuse of power and generating wealth from unknown sources.
He was charged on 12 counts and found guilty on seven of them.
According to the charges, the defendant used his position to have a book he had written be sponsored by printers. Additional charges include unpaid tax on the profit he made from the book.
He was also charged with using his power to get an Italian made ceramics worth 65,000 birr from a businessman.
Also charged were the defendant’s close friend Dori Kebede as well as his brother and sister, Zeray Woldemichael and Terhas Woldemichael.
Zeray has been handed a four-year prison term and was fined 20,000 birr, while Terhas has been sentenced to three years and three months. She was also fined 10,000 birr.
Dori Kebede, accused of covering up 6 million birr earned by corruption, was set free by the Federal High Court 15th Criminal Bench as he had sufficiently defended himself against the charge.
