EFCC arrests bank employee for allegedly stealing N137m

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibadan zonal office, has arrested a sales agent of a new generation bank for allegedly stealing N137 million belonging to a customer.

The suspect’s arrest was a sequel to a petition by the bank, alleging that he suppressed, diverted and stole the money from personal and corporate accounts of a customer in Ibadan.

Filed on August 20, 2019, the petition alleged that the offence was committed between January 2017 and July 2019.

The suspect, who was the account officer to the customer, reportedly visited the business premises of the victim weekly to collect cash with the understanding that he would remit the same to the client’s accounts domiciled in the bank’s Challenge branch in Ibadan.

Instead of depositing all the money, he allegedly remitted part.

To cover his tracks, the suspect, according to the petition, would issue fictitious bank slips to deceive the customer that he truly made the deposits.

This was said to have continued until the customer reviewed the statement of his account and discovered the fraud, prompting the bank to put up the petition.

The Guardian learned that, so far, the EFCC investigators have established a prima facie case of diversion and stealing against the suspect.

Further investigation revealed that the suspect had used the suppressed sums to build houses, purchase cars, and made some other investments.

Some of the items have been recovered and registered as exhibits.

The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded, the commission added.