EFCC Docks Two Former Bankers Over N9.7m Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 arraigned one Bright Evogbai and Okechukwu Okolo before Justice Dije Abdu Aboki of Kano State High Court. The duo was arraigned on an eight count charge for offences bordering on conspiracy, forgery and obtaining money under false pretences.

Having pleaded not guilty to the charge, when it was read to them, defence counsel, Yakubu Aliyu, urged the court to admit the accused persons to bail but  the prosecuting counsel, Mainforce  Adaka, opposed the bail application on the point of law and urged the court for accelerate hearing of the substantive matter.

The accused persons were arrested following a petition from Intercontinental Bank ( now Access Bank) alleging that the duo who were former staff of the Bank  in Kano, connived to defraud the Bank to the tune of N9,7000,000  (Nine Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Naira only) . They allegedly forged customer’s instructions on a stolen letter heads, forged the customer’s signature and used same to fraudulently transfer the mentioned sum in five tranches to other customers’ account within the branch

The first count charge reads: “that you Bright Evogbai and Okechukwu Okolo sometimes between August 2010 and August 2011, in Kano State, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Kano did conspire among yourselves to commit an unlawful act to wit: obtaining money by false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 8(a) and punishable under section 1(3) of Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The second count read “that you Bright Evogbai and Okechukwu Okolo on or about August 26, 2010, in Kano State, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Kano  with intention to defraud , obtained the sum of two million one hundred and three thousand, four hundred and eighty three naira (N2,103,483.00) from Intercontinental Bank Plc through AKTH Microbiology fixed deposit account by false pretence that you have the instruction of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (operators of the said account) to liquidate the account and withdraw the said amount, Which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1)(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

 Count three reads “that you Bright Evogbai and Okechukwu Okolo on or about November 5, 2010, in Kano State, within the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice Kano  with intention to defraud , obtained the sum of two million  eighty thousand, one hundred naira (N2,080,1000.00) from Intercontinental Bank Plc through AKTH Microbiology fixed deposit account by false pretence that you have the instruction of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital(operators of the said account) to  liquidate the account and withdraw the said amount, Which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1(1)(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act

Bright

Okechukwu

Justice Aboki ordered that the suspects be remanded in EFCC custody pending the determination of the bail application. She however, adjourned the ruling on the bail application to December 17^th while hearing on the substantive matter comes up in January 24, 2013.