Staff, Hackers, Compromise Sterling Bank’s Data, System, Steal N1.3bn

 The Nigeria Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Ikoyi, Lagos has arrested five suspects made up of three men and two women over allegation of compromising the banking platform and Bance Application of Sterling Bank Plc and purportedly stole N1,257,536,572.50 billion.

The five suspects who were docked on Friday, January 17, 2024 by the Nigeria Police Force at a Federal High Court, Lagos, were reported to have committed the offence between November 3 and 4, 2024, in connivance with some of the staff of the bank.

They were arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, hacking, unlawful possession, and conversion of funds before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa.

The suspects included; Victor Nwabueze Ogochukwu “M” 50; Favour Odey “F” 22; Adekunle Daniel “M” 34; Akachukwu Alagbogu “M” and, ’guntade Yetunde “F” 28.

The prosecution counsel, Justine Enang told the court that the defendants committed the offences in a connivance with others presently at large.

The prosecutor further said that the defendants connived with some insider staff members of Sterling Bank as well as external parties to compromise the bank’s sensitive data and security system, using international mobile equipment identity 14984244, IP address 84252.113.3, and 88 transaction.

Enang also said that the suspects’ alleged acts contravened sections 27(1)(b) and 14(1) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, read along with section 14(1) of the same Act.

The prosecutor also told the court that the offences were contrary to and punishable under Section 18(2)(b) & (d) and Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

All the five defendants pleaded not guilty to the allegations and following their plea, their counsels moved their bail applications, praying the court to admit their clients to bail “in the most liberal terms.”

But, Enang opposed the bail applications stressing that the suspects are flight risks.

Ruling on the bail applications, Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that the offences were bailable and admitted each the defendants to bail in the sum of N50 million with one surety in the like sum, stressing that the surety must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction.

Justice Lewis-Allagoa thereafter said that the defendants should be remanded at the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS), pending the perfection of the bail conditions.

The trial judge accordingly adjourned the case till March 13, 2025, for trial.

AGF Battles Polaris Bank, Staff For Diverting Customer’s N16.5bn

 

The Kayode Lawal-led Polaris Bank Limited is currently entangled in alleged N16.5 billion fraud.

This is as the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has taken over the prosecution of the bank and a staff member, Chinenye Duru, for diverting N16.5 billion belonging to a customer of the bank.

The office of the Inspector General of Police, which filed the case in December 2023, accused Polaris Bank and Mr Duru of fraudulently diverting over N16.5 billion from a customer’s various accounts within nearly eight years.

The police identified the bank customer and the victim of the alleged crime as Onukogu Victor Hezekiah, the spiritual head of the Living Christ Mission Church, Onitsha, Anambra State, South-east Nigeria.

According to the prosecution, the defendants diverted the money from Mr Hezekiah’s accounts between 2017 and 2023, while Mr Duru served as the customer’s account officer. Mr Hezekiah is fondly called Daddy Hezkiah by his followers.

A lawyer from the AGF office, V.J. Alma, informed the trial judge, Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, that Mr Fagbemi directed the takeover of the case from the police in the exercise of his powers as the AGF under Section 174(1)(b) of the Nigerian constitution.

Mr Alma did not give any reason for the AGF office’s decision to take over the case.

“We have written a letter to the Nigerian police notifying them of this position and requesting the original case file in a letter dated 29 May 2024,” the lawyer said. “We are still waiting for the original case file.”

Mr Ekwo asked Mr Alma if the AGF office had written to the court about the development, and the lawyer responded in affirmative.

Mr Alma urged the court to fix the matter for trial on a date after the about-to-commence annual vacation of judges.

The judge then told Mr Duru’s lawyer, Chidi Ezenwafor, to advise Polaris Bank, the 1st defendant in the case, to engage a lawyer to represent it in the case.

Mr Ekwo postponed the hearing in the case till 18 and 19 November for trial.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Inspector-General of Police arraigned Mr Duru on 11 counts on 19 January.

He pleaded not guilty to the counts.

The judge remanded Mr Duru in a correctional facility pending the hearing of his bail application.

Polaris Bank and Mr Duru are the first and the 2nd defendants in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/603/2023.

In the charges, the prosecution accused Polaris Bank and Mr Duru of fraudulently withdrawing N16.5 billion from Mr Hezekiah’s account numbers 1040495455 and 1060104735 between 17 November 2017 and 14 August 2023.

Within the same period, the prosecution alleged that the defendants also fraudulently withdrew N75.534 million from the customer’s other account, 4010023601.

According to the prosecution, the defendants also fraudulently withdrew N13.3 million from the customer’s account number 40910106770 and N16.3 million from his other account number 411054152 within the same period.

The charges said the defendants withdrew the money without authorisation from the owner of the accounts with the intent of converting it for their personal use.

The police charged the offences under sections 18 (2) and 21 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022. Some of the offences are punishable under section 18(3) of the money laundering law, the police said.

Alleged N1.1B Scam: Providus Bank Staff In Trouble

According to iReportnews Media, an investigation is currently underway in Abuja involving Providus Bank Limited, its officials, and another commercial bank in connection with an alleged N1 billion fraud scam.

The investigation stems from a transfer of about N1 billion by a bureau de change operator in Abuja, Shamsudeen Ahmed, through the banks to suspected criminals.

These criminals reportedly offered to send $1 million from Dubai to Ahmed, but the money mysteriously disappeared.

Detectives are now looking into the bank staff’s involvement in the illegal transfer of the money after the suspects provided three account details where Ahmed paid in the money, only to later discover that the suspects conspired to defraud.

In a petition written on behalf of the complainant by Anthony Odule, and addressed to the Inspector General of Police, the complainant alleged that on December 8, 2023, he was contacted by the suspects, Gambo Dahiru, Ibrahim Mohammed, Shaibu Mohammed and Francis Azubuike aka Frank, who deceived him to believe that there was a genuine $1 million for sale from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which he innocently indicated interest.

According to the petition, “Our client stated that the suspects provided the following account details: Account Name: Ushaib Global Investment Limited; Account number; Account number: 5400393231, domicile in (Providus Bank), Account name; Yadiz Oil and Gas Plc Nigeria Limited account; domicile in (a third-generation bank) and Account Name: A&M. Technology Red Set; Account number – 5404168804, (Providus Bank), where the complainant paid in N830 million, N330 million and N10 million, respectively.

“Our client stated that upon preliminary investigation, it was found that the suspects conspired among themselves to defraud our client of his hard-earned money as they do not have dollars anywhere to give to our client but have shared the money amongst themselves.

What is of concerning for our client is that he borrowed a portion of the money sent to the suspects and co-conspirators, and the non-repayment will significantly damage his reputation.

Upon suspecting foul play, the complainant promptly notified all the banks involved in the situation, urging them to halt the payment and refund the money to him.

The complainant stated, “One of the banks has refunded a portion of the money, but the other has refused.

Why didn’t the bank request evidence if they are adamant about this claim? I have requested the return of my funds or the freezing of the account, but no action has been taken.

The bank has the authority to halt this fraudulent activity, yet they have failed to do so.”

According to police sources, investigators have been questioning bank officials as six suspected fraudsters have been apprehended and have returned a portion of the stolen funds.

Attempts to contact the banks were unsuccessful, as calls made to their Head of Corporate Communications went unanswered.

Zenith Bank Staff Leaking Information To Armed Robbers — Robbed Customer

A 55-year-old Russian woman Angelina Gold has narrated how she was robbed of $3,500 on Friday, June 14, shortly after she withdrew the money from a Zenith Bank Plc branch in Lagos.

She suspected that someone might have witnessed how she was paid the money in the banking hall or some workers of the bank’s branch located along Isaac John Street, GRA Ikeja might be feeding information to robbers. 

Gold was shot in the foot by a lone robber in her compound at Oba Akinjobi GRA Ikeja when she was hesitant to release the money.

According to her, the robbery happened less than three hours after the bank transaction.

Narrating her experience, “On Friday (June 14, 2024), my daughter and I went to Zenith Bank at Isaac John Street to collect dollars so me and my grandson can travel on Monday (June 17, 2024) to my country. It was $3,500. Two days before, we told the bank we were coming to get the dollars.

“Once we were done, we went to Oasis and Ebeano supermarket to spend some time there. As we were returning home, my daughter saw a guy at Cubana bus stop. We noticed we had been seeing him around since we left the bank but we didn't really suspect anything. So when we approached our house at Oba Akinjobi Street, Ikeja, my daughter screamed again that the man that we saw at the junction was around again. How come he trekked so fast? We still didn't pay attention.

“So we drove into our compound. I parked my car. And as I opened my car door to step out, this man walked up to me and asked if I knew why he was here. He said he came to collect the dollars I withdrew and that he had a gun and was an armed robber. He said he didn't want to kill me but only wanted what I took from the bank. My six-year-old grandson came out and he pointed his gun at him and my daughter. I tried to protect them to stop him from the nonsense and then he shot me in the foot, collected the money and ran away.”

Still shocked by the incident, Gold began asking several questions as to how such could happen so fast after she left the bank, without disclosing their movement to anyone.

According to her, this led her to suspect it wasn't a random robbery.

She said, "I suspect an insider in the bank because we never told anyone we were going to the bank. And Zenith Bank was carelessly giving dollars openly in the hall. This can trigger robbery cases. And for many years, no one has ever experienced armed robbery in our neighborhood in GRA Ikeja. So something is wrong with the security. Banks should stop giving dollars openly in the hall.

“Even if someone saw us collecting dollars and decided to trail us, how was it possible to organise the robbery in just two hours? There were only two people in the hall at that time. So it's easy to trace. I strongly believe there was an insider in the bank who gave out our information. A few weeks ago, my daughter withdrew a huge amount of dollars from the same bank. Then she called two days before we went to collect another amount of dollars. I’m just thinking about these things; I may be wrong.”

Gold told SaharaReporters that she returned to the bank to officially lodge a complaint but realised it was already closed for the day. This was after she had gone to the hospital for medical attention.

And with the Sallah holidays on Monday and Tuesday, June 17 and 18 respectively, Gold noted that she could not get across to the bank.

"I tried calling them since it happened around 3 pm, by the time we had taken the matter to the police and I was driven to the hospital for treatment, the bank had closed.

“Unfortunately, I have to return to return to Russia on Monday (June 17, 2024) because I have my ticket already. And now I'm travelling without money and with a bullet wound on my foot. I have even spoken to the owner of the Zenith Jim Ovia so I believe the top hierarchy know about this incident," she said.

Stressing that she reported the matter to the police, she said: "I reported this matter to CSP Oke, the Divisional Police Officer at Area F Police Station in our neighbourhood at Oba Akinjobi. They only said they would be on it and only provided escorts for me to go to the hospital and then to the airport when I'm travelling.

“Banks to stop giving dollars to people openly in the bank, I would like to stress that again, otherwise they would be inviting criminals who might in turn kill their customers or rob them. There's nothing much I think can be done. If I can get back my money and the culprit arrested, then that would be awesome. At least I'm glad he didn't shoot my grandson or daughter or even shoot me dead.”

“I’m sure the robber is a trained security operative judging from the way he acted and how he handled the gun. I know all these because in 2014 I was invited as a supervisor to train special forces during the Sambo Dasuki case. I took all the officers to Russia for training. So I know how they act and behave. The bullet is actually with me. It entered the ground when he shot me in the foot. I picked it up. I will take it to the military hospital in Russia and show them,” she added.

When SaharaReporters called the DPO of the Ikeja station where Gold said she lodged a complaint to get an update on the matter, he declined to discuss the matter on the phone.

“Please, you will have to come to the police station if you have any question to ask," he said.

However, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer Benjamin Hundeyin later confirmed to SaharaReporters that the matter had been reported to them.

According to him, the matter has even gotten to the desk of the state police commissioner.

"The DPO made me to understand that he responded swiftly. It was the day President Bola Tinubu came to Lagos and he was at the airport. He left there immediately and went to the woman's house and personally took the woman to Duchess Hospital and checked up on her every day.

“He even went to her house on Monday morning to escort her to the airport. On the day the incident happened, the Russian woman successfully entered into her house only for the gunman to tell the security guys at the gate that he was with her and so he was allowed in. And that's how he robbed the woman,” Hundeyin said.

The police spokesperson asked how a stranger would be allowed to gain entry into a private compound, rob the woman of her money and leave without any confrontation.

“As we speak, the security men are in detention. Because if they are not collaborators, why did they allow a stranger to come in without identifying him?” he asked.

On the extent at which the police had gone to pursue this case, SP Hundeyin said the bank workers involved in the transaction had already been written to and were expected to respond by Wednesday when work would resume after the Sallah holidays

He continued, “The DPO has also written to the bank to speak with the bank manager, the teller and every other person that knew about the withdrawal because it's a bit strange that the gunman followed her to her house and specifically asked for the money that she withdrew from the bank.

“The bank manager will come to the station for his statement. The security guards have also written theirs and are still in detention. The woman said she's going to Russia to buy a property this week otherwise the price will go up.” 

When SaharaReporters reached out to Ayoola Kushimo of the bank's corporate communications unit, he said the affected must lodge an official complaint at the bank before he would be able to speak on the issue.

He said, "The case in question is new to me. The woman in question has to lodge an official complaint first. Or who did she complain to? You? If at all she made any complaints on Friday when it happened, she is likely not to get any response until Wednesday (June 19, 2024) which is the resumption day after the Sallah holidays.

“Please allow whatever complaints she has made to the head office to filter till Wednesday. I’m sure they will act on it. Thank you.

Chrisland School, Staff, And Vendor To Face Charges For The Death Of Student.

 

The Lagos State Government says a case of involuntary manslaughter in addition to reckless and negligent acts has been established against Chrisland School, some members of staff and a vendor in the death of one of its former students, Whitney Adeniran.

 

Adeniran was said to have slumped during her school’s inter-house sport on February 9. After an autopsy, it was revealed that the 12-year-old died from Asphyxia and electrocution.

Following the controversial circumstance surrounding the student’s death, the state government through the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, ordered a coroner’s inquest into the matter to ascertain the cause of death. The Coroner, Magistrate Olabisi Fajana, later disclosed that the coroner’s inquest to unravel the cause of death of the 12-year-old would commence on April 4.

Oromoni’s Death: Lagos Govt Set Free Five Dowen Students, Staff, Orders Release Of Suspects

Nuella's News reports that the Lagos State Government has cleared five students and five employees of Dowen College accused of complicity in the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni.

This platform understands that the state cleared them as well as the school following the Legal Advice of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Ms. Adetutu Oshinusi.

The legal advice was addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID and the trial magistrate, Magistrate Olatunbosun Adeola.

According to the advice, the interim and final autopsy reports issued by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital and toxicology report of post mortem samples and that of the Central Hospital, Warri were in agreement as to the cause of death namely: Septicaemia, Lobar Pneumonia with Acute Pyelonephritis, Pyomyositis of the right ankle and Acute Bacteria Pneumonia due to severe Sepsis.

The result of the toxicology is also not indicative of any toxic or poisonous substance in the body of the deceased.

The DPP’s legal advice, therefore, concluded that based on these findings, there is no prima facie case of murder, involuntary manslaughter and or malicious administering of poison with intent to harm against the five students, Favour Benjamin aged 16, Micheal Kashamu (15), Edward Begue (16), Ansel Temile (14) and Kenneth Inyang (15).

The state also cleared the minors of belonging to unlawful society due to insufficient facts to establish the offence.

It stated that “from available facts in the duplicate case file, the investigation carried out by the Police did not reveal that any secret society name, tattoo or insignia of any unlawful society was found in the possession of any of the suspects during the investigation carried out by the Police.

To hold otherwise would amount to sniffing for an offence and a speculative act which is not permitted in law. It is trite law that suspicion no matter how grave cannot be a ground for conviction”.

The state also cleared the school and five employees: Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusesan Olusegun and one Adeyemi of the offence of Negligent Act Causing Harm contrary to section 252 of the Criminal Law Ch. C17, Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State 2015.

The state, therefore, directed that all the suspects should be released if they are still in custody.

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