ex-First Bank Employee Who Allegedly Stole $368,203, N49.3m Sends To Prison For 98 Years

A female former employee of First Bank of Nigeria, Oreoluwa Adesakin, who has been standing trial for allegedly converting $368, 203 and N49 million of her employer to her personal use, has been handed a cumulative 98 years jail term.

Adesakin who was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), on 14-count charges, bordering on stealing, forgery and fraudulent accounting, was convicted by Justice Muniru Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court.

The suspect was found to have committed financial fraud against her employers to the tune of N49,320,652.32 (Forty-nine Million, Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty-two Naira, Thirty-two Kobo), and additional $368,203.00 (Three Hundred and Sixty-eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Three United States Dollars) belonging to the bank which she converted to her personal use, according to Wilson Uwujaren, Head of Media & Publicity of the EFCC in a statement.

The suspect was said to have pleaded not guilty to all the charges, a development which necessitated her trial.

Prosecution counsel, Usman Murtala in arguing his case, presented every vital document and witnesses which nailed the convict.

The judge noted that the EFCC amassed a pool of incontrovertible evidence against the convict and did a diligent investigation and prosecution. He pronounced Adesakin guilty of all the charges, sentencing her to seven years in prison without an option of fine on each of the 14 counts, which will run concurrently.

Apart from the jail term, the convict is also to restitute the First Bank, through the EFCC, all the money she stole.

The convict was arraigned on April 4, 2014 by the EFCC following a conclusion of investigations against her which arose from a petition from her former employer, dated December 18, 2013.

The bank alleged in the petition that Adesakin, as its Money Transfer Operator, saddled with the responsibility of effecting payments through Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram platforms, fraudulently manipulated accounting and withdrew the total sums of N49,320,652.32 and another $368,203.00 for herself, which the bank only uncovered while reviewing its internal account.

The EFCC was also able to establish that the convict used part of the proceeds of her crime to acquire landed properties in different parts of Oyo State.