The Uyo
Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday, arraigned
five bankers for stealing depositors N37million.
According to the EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade, the Commission uncovered a criminal syndicate of bankers that specialized in forging signatures of deceased bank customers, and stealing from their accounts.
He
explained that the bankers also executed fraudulent financial transactions,
including unauthorised debits of depositors' funds.
The
members of the syndicate have been identified to include, Mbong Essien, Akwa Akwa, Precious
John, Kenneth Udoetuk and Ubong Udom.
They
were arraigned before Justice Archibong Archibong of the Akwa Ibom State High
Court sitting in Uyo, on a 23-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery,
obtaining by false pretence and criminal conversion of depositors' funds to the
tune of N37,690,000.
The
management of Fidelity Bank Plc, Abak Road branch in Uyo and 72 of the bank
customers had in a petition dated December 9, 2019, alerted the Commission of
suspicious withdrawals from customers’ accounts, including that of a deceased
customer.
Orilade
said: “Investigation by the EFCC revealed that Mbong used his position as the
Head, Operations and Transaction Service and Delivery, established a criminal
syndicate that specialised in perpetrating the fraudulent transactions and
deductions. Further
investigations also showed that without the authorization or knowledge of the management
of the bank, the defendants managed a fictitious fixed deposit account with
interest accruing to it.”
One
of the charges reads: "Mbong Emmanuel Essien, Ubong Godwin Udom and Akwa
Ephraim Akwa, being staff of Fidelity Bank Plc, Abak Road branch, sometime in
June 2019, at Uyo, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did steal
the sum of N10,000,000.00 only, from the Fidelity Bank account of Arit Jeremiah
Eshiet, which proceeds you fraudulently converted to your personal use and
thereby committed an offence."
The
offence is contrary to Section 392 (1) and punishable under Section 399 of the
Criminal Code CAP 38 Vol. II Laws of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria 1999.
The
defendants pleaded "not guilty" to the charges.
In
view of their pleas, counsel for the EFCC, Nwandu K. Ukoha, prayed the court
for a trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in the custody of the
Nigerian Correctional Service.
The
matter was thereafter adjourned to June 1, 2, and 3, 2020, for hearing, while
the defendants were remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional
Service, pending the hearing of their bail applications.
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