The trial of a former Access Bank employee and three co-defendants accused of orchestrating a N5.7 billion fraud resumed at the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, May 15, 2025, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) presenting its first prosecution witness.
Olajide Ogunmoroti, a former Access Bank employee, along with Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike, and Moses Iruolaje, appeared before Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe to face an amended 10-count charge. The charges include stealing, money laundering, obtaining credit by false pretence, retention of proceeds of crime, and unauthorised access to computer materials.
Prosecution’s Key Evidence
The first prosecution witness, Abdulmajeed Agboola, a current Access Bank staff member, testified about how the alleged fraud was discovered. Under examination by EFCC counsel Abdulhamid L. Tukur, Agboola revealed that Ogunmoroti served as the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) representative at Access Bank’s Abakaliki branch, where investigators uncovered a server glitch during internal reviews.
“There was a fraudulent overdraft limit maintained on our customers’ accounts, which enabled them to make withdrawals from the unfunded accounts,” Agboola testified. He explained that the bank identified suspicious overdraft limits on customer accounts that allowed unauthorised access to funds, which were subsequently transferred to accounts within Access Bank and other financial institutions. The total exposure exceeded N5 billion.
Deleted CCTV Evidence and Policy Violations
A significant development in the case involved the discovery that CCTV recordings from the Abakaliki branch had been deliberately erased during the investigation period. This finding raised additional suspicions about the defendants’ activities.
Agboola further testified that investigations pointed directly to Ogunmoroti, who allegedly admitted to using a private laptop to connect with the bank’s server system, thereby gaining unauthorized access to sensitive banking data. The witness emphasized that the use of personal laptops was strictly prohibited under the bank’s security policies.
Specific Charges
The amended charges include several counts of stealing, with two particularly significant allegations:
The first charge alleges that the defendants, “sometime in 2023, with a dishonest intent, stole and converted for your own use the sum of N2,253,827,379.23, being property of Access Bank Plc., thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Sections 280 and punishable under Section 280 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
A second charge states that the defendants “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 N3,473,166,731, property of Access Bank Plc., thereby committed an offence of stealing, contrary to Sections 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
Court Proceedings
During the session, the prosecution sought to admit petitions from Access Bank as evidence. The defense raised no objections, and Justice Abike-Fadipe admitted the documents into evidence.
The case has been adjourned to May 20, 2025, for the continuation of the trial. The proceedings mark a significant step in what appears to be one of the largest financial fraud cases involving internal bank operations in recent years.
