Customers Run Helter Skelter as Access Bank Staff Steals N5.6BN  

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) today presented it’s first prosecution witness (PW1), Abdulmajeed Agboola, a staff of Access Bank Plc, in the alleged N5, 726, 994, 110. 23 billion fraud involving a former employees of the bank, Olajide Ogunmoroti, Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike and Moses Iruolaje, before Justice Olubunmi O. Abike-Fadipe of a Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, Lagos.

The defendants are being prosecuted on an amended 10-count charge bordering on stealing, retention of proceeds of crime, money laundering, obtaining credit by false pretence and unauthorised access to computer materials.

One of the charges reads: “That you, Olajide Ogunmoroti, Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike and Moses Iruolaje, sometime in 2023, with a dishonest intent, stole and converted for your own use, the sum of N2,253,827,379.23, billion being property of Access Bank Plc, thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 280  of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

Another charge reads: “That you, Olajide Ogunmoroti, Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike and Moses Iruolaje, sometime in 2023, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with a dishonest intent, stole and converted for your own use the sum 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) property of Access Bank PIc., thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

Abdulmajeed Agboola while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, told the court that the first defendant, Ogunmoroti, was the ICT representative of the Abakaliki branch of the bank.  He told the court that there was a glitch in the bank’s server, which was traced to the Abakaliki branch during investigations.

According to him, “there was a fraudulent overdraft limit maintained on our customers’ accounts, which enabled them to make withdrawals from the unfunded accounts. We observed those suspicious overdraft limits maintained on customers’ accounts, which allowed them to access funds and transfer to accounts maintained in both Access Bank and other banks. We identified customers whose accounts benefited from the suspicious overdraft maintenance with a total exposure of over N5 billion.”

The witness further told the court that when the CCTV footage was checked, it was discovered that everything had been wiped out.

“During investigations, everything was pointing at the first defendant. He admitted that he used a private laptop in connection with the bank’s server through which they gained access to the bank’s data,” he further told the court.

He, however, told the court that the use of personal laptops wasn’t allowed in the bank’s policy.

The prosecution counsel, thereafter, sought to tender in evidence the petitions from the bank. There was no objection by the defence counsel, and the document was admitted by the court.

Justice Fadipe adjourned the case till 20 May 2025 for the continuation of trial.