EFCC opens case against Ecobank, staff | Nairalaw

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday
opened its case against Ecobank Plc and one of its employees Anieka
Udoh at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

It accused the bank and Udoh of “negligently” failing to
exercise due diligence in relation to conduct of financial
transactions with Major-General Umaru Mohammed.

The prosecution called its first witness, Jones Oboh, in the
alleged $50,000 and N9.2million fraud case.

The commission said the defendants fraudulently converted the
army chief’s Ecobank MasterCard account numbered 0015052989 from
debit card to credit card.

It said they debited the account of over USD 50,000 “without the
knowledge and authority of Major-General Umaru Mohammed.”

Oboh, a former Loan Recovery and Collection Officer with the
bank, said the bank operated the account for five years without the
customer’s knowledge.

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Bilikisu Buhari, the
witness said it reflected on his system that Mohammed owed the bank
N9.2million.

“After checking the records of those owing the bank, I
discovered that Mohammed was one of those granted loans by Ecobank
Plc.

“Sometime in March 2018, I called Mohammed on the phone to find
out when he was going to pay back his loan.

“But to my surprise, he said he did not owe the bank and that
there was no time he applied for any form of loan from the bank.
Thereafter, a meeting was set up between the bank and Mohammed
through me.

“It was in the meeting that Mohammed was told that his account
was in the debit of N9.2million, showing that he utilised his
Master Credit Card over a period of time.

“Mohammed informed the bank that there was no time he applied
for a Master Credit Card from Ecobank and that the only transaction
he had with the bank was that he applied to open a domiciliary
account in which a debit card was issued to him so as to use it
whenever he travels out of the country,” Oboh said.

The witness said found out that in April 2013, the sum of
$38,725 was recorded against the complainant.

“In July 2014, a reversal of $32,887 was made on the account of
Mohammed, leaving a debit of $6,125 in 2014.

“Afterwards, the bank opened a naira account in Mohammed’s name
without his knowledge and dollars were converted to N261 to a
dollar from his domiciliary account, leaving a debit balance of
N3.1million on the Naira account.”

The witness said the bank never wrote or invited the complainant
to bring to his notice all the “eventualities” on his accounts for
five years until he took a step to do that.

“The bank left the account to grow in debit from N3.1million to
N9.2million without informing the account owner.

“The second defendant, Anieka Udoh, was the account officer of
the complainant,” the witness said.

Justice Saliu Saidu adjourned until April 18 for continuation of
trial.

Court Jails Economics Graduate for
Impersonation

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal
office, has secured the conviction of an Economics graduate from a
public university in Southwest Nigeria, Fredrick Shuaibu, for
criminal impersonation.

Fredrick was convicted and sentenced to four months imprisonment
on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 by Justice Watilat Ibrahim of a
Federal High Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State after pleading guilty to
an amended one-count charge of fraudulent impersonation.

He was said to have used the computer and network system to
fraudulently impersonate one Kristen Polochak, a white female, via
his email KristenPolochak@gmail.com, using same to dupe one Jim
Fletcher of a sum of $1,000.

The offence, according to the charge sheet, was contrary to
Section 22 (3) (b) and punishable under Section 22 (4) of the Cyber
Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015.

The convict was originally arraigned on December 10, 2018 on a
five-count charge. But the charges were dropped when he opted for a
plea bargain.

Mabas Mabur, EFCC’s counsel, thereafter prayed the court to
convict him based on the plea bargain agreement signed by both
parties.

After considering the terms of the plea bargain, the presiding
judge convicted and sentenced Fredrick to four months imprisonment
with effect from the day he was arrested by the EFCC.

The court also ordered that he restitutes to his victim the sum
of $1,000.

He was also to forfeit to the Federal Government his HP laptop,
a Macbook, one iPhone 6 mobile phone, one power bank, three MTN SIM
cards, being part of the benefits he derived from his fraudulent
acts.

Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity
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Land Speculator Bags 70 Years for Forgery
Justice C.O Agbaza of the Federal high court, sitting in Jabi
Abuja, on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, sentenced and convicted one
Kehinde Bello, to 70 years imprisonment for obtaining by false
pretence and forgery.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had
arraigned the convict for trial on 10-count charge bordering on
Advance Fee Fraud, forgery and conspiracy.

Bello’s problem started in 2008, through a petition by
Enatto-Nana Aisha to the EFCC, complaining of the convict, who
approached her to pay for of a landed property in Abuja, claiming
to be a staff of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA.
Being convinced of the transaction, she parted with N28 million,
being initial deposit to the convict.

But the convict disappeared without letter of allocation, as he
had promised.

Working on the petition, the operatives of the EFCC arrested the
convict and charged him to court in 2014, on a 10 count charge of
conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence and forgery.

Investigation revealed that Bello’s other accomplices: Gabriel
Adole Simon (now at large) and James Ogar (still at large) obtained
N28, 000.000.00 (Twenty Eight Million Naira) only from their victim
Aisha, under the false pretence that the money was for
re-certification and re-issuance of two plots of land in the
Maitama area of Abuja, the FCT.

Investigation by the EFCC operatives further indicated that the
convict used several other forged documents among them are the
Federal Capital Territory Administration, Offer Of Terms Grant/
Conveyance Of Approval With Ref No: MFCT/LA/KN.3071, dated March
20, 2002 in the name of one Abubakar M. Laden and Abuja Geographic
Information Systems, Recertification And Re-Issuance of C of O with
file NO: KT 11284 dated December 23, 2008 in the name of one Haruna
Yunusa, to defraud the complainant.

Count one of the charge reads: “That you Kehinde Bello, Gabriel
Adole Simon (now at large) and James Ogar (still at large)
sometimes in 2008 within the jurisdiction of High Court of the
Federal Capital Territory did conspire among yourselves to commit
an unlawful act to wit: obtaining money by false pretense and
thereby committed an offence contrary to section 8(a) and
punishable under section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other
Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006”.

While the second count reads: “That you Kehinde Bello, Gabriel
Adole Simon sometime in 2008 with the Jurisdiction of the High
court of the Federal Capital territory with intent to defraud
obtained the aggregate sum of N28,000,000.00 (Twenty Eight Million
Naira) only from one Enatto- Nana Aisha by false pretense
purportedly for the recertification and reissuance of two plots of
land described as file number: KT11284 in the name of Haruna Yunusa
with plot number 4085 Cadestral Zone AO5 of Maitama dated
09/04/2002 and file number KN13063 in the name of Abubakar Ladan,
with plot number cadastral Zone AO6 of Maitama date 20/03/2002
respectively for her which pretence you knew to be false and there
by 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”.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, 10 April, the prosecution
counsel, Chioma Okongwu, after proving her case beyond reasonable
doubt closed her case against the accused. The accused pleaded
‘guilty’ on all the 10 count charge.

Justice Agbaza, thereafter, found Bello guilty on the 10-count
charge and convicted him to seven years imprisonment on each of the
count. The sentence, according to the judge, is to run
concurrently.

Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity