A former staff of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Oreoluwa Adesakin, has been sentenced to 98 years in prison by Justice Muniru Olagunju of Oyo High Court for fraud.
According to a statement released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Adesakin was found to have committed financial fraud against her employers to the tune of N49,320,652.32 and an additional $368,203.00 belonging to the bank, which she converted to personal use.
In the statement EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren stated that Adesakin was arraigned April 4, 2014, by the commission following a conclusion of investigations against her which arose from a petition from her former employer, dated December 18, 2013.
Adesakin is the bank‘s Money Transfer Operator, who was saddled with the responsibility of effecting payments through Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram platforms.
According to the petition, the bank alleged that Adesakin fraudulently manipulated accounting and withdrew the monies for herself, which the bank uncovered while reviewing its internal account.
EFCC was also able to establish that Adesakin used part of the proceeds of her crime to acquire landed properties in different parts of Oyo State.
She was then prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on 14-count charges bordering on stealing, forgery, and fraudulent accounting.
One of the charges reads;
That you, Oreoluwa Adesakin sometime between the months of May 2013 and November 2013, at Ibadan within the Ibadan Judicial Division, whilst being a staff of First Bank PLC stole the sum of N25,974,116.13 from First Bank PLC MoneyGram Payment Naira Account, the property of First bank PLC.
Adesakin pleaded not guilty to all the charges, which necessitated her trial.
EFCC counsel, Usman Murtala, presented every vital document and witnesses which nailed the convict.
The Judge noted 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 to First Bank, through the EFCC, all the money she stole.
