Kemisola Oye
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) yesterday Thursday 6 June 2024 arraigned three men before Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja for allegedly stealing contrary to Section 280 and punishable by Section 287 of Criminal Code Law of Lagos 2015 and retention of proceed of crime contrary to and punishable by Section 17 of the EFCC Establishment Act, No 1 of 2004.
Michael Igbomins, David Onyeike, and Moses Iruolaje were arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on stealing and retention of proceed of crime to the tune of Three Billion, Four Hundred and Seventy -Three Million, One Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-One Naira (N3,473,166,731.00) only, being property of Access Bank Plc. 
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Counts one reads: “Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike, Moses Iruolaje and Olajide Ogunmoroti (at large) sometime in 2023, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with a dishonest intent, stole and converted to your own use the sum of Three Billion, Four Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-One Naira (N3, 473,166,731.00) property of Access Bank Plc”.
Count two reads: “Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike, Moses Iruolaje and Olajide Ogunmoroti (at large) sometime in 2023, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, retained the sum of Three Billion, Four Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-One Naira
(N3, 473, 166,731.00) stolen from Access Bank Plc, which proceeds you know or ought to have known to proceed of crime or unlawful Act”.
They pleaded “not guilty” when the charges were read to them. In view of their pleas, counsel to the EFCC, Abdulhamid Lamido Tukur, prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendants to be remanded in a correctional facility.
However, counsel to the first and second defendants. M. S. Amosun and I. O. Lala informed the court that there was no pending application before the court, and prayed to the court that they would do the needful before the next adjourned date.
Justice Fadipe thereafter adjourned the matter to 28 November 2024 for trial. The defendants were remanded in a correctional facility.
Mr Olajide Ogunmoroti, an Access Bank staff member, allegedly connected an HP Elitebook laptop into his branch network where he was working for about 16 years as an IT representative.
This gave remote access to his cohorts for them to perpetrate the alleged fraud on the network of the bank. He employed the other defendants and moved money out through them.
The fraud led to a loss of 3.7 billion out of the temporary overdraft of N30 billion that was found on the suspects’ devices by the Commission.
Eighteen-Eleven Media