The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned two officials of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited over an alleged fraud involving $306,667.81 and €50,250.
This was
disclosed in a statement posted on the official page of the Commission.
In the
statement, the defendants, Bakare Oladimeji Surajudeen and James Olukayode
Imokwede, were on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, brought before Justice Ismaila Ijelu
of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja.
According
to the EFCC, the defendants were arraigned on a 10-count charge bordering on
alleged stealing and retention of stolen property belonging to FSDH Merchant
Bank Limited.
The
anti-graft agency stated that, “the petitioner, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited,
alleged that an internal audit uncovered unauthorized debits totaling
$306,667.81 and €50,250, equivalent to N527,406,916.66 five hundred and
twenty-seven Million, four hundred and six thousand, nine hundred and sixteen
naira, sixty six kobo.”
Investigations,
the Commission said, showed that the transfers were allegedly processed through
the SWIFT platform to third parties.
One of the
charges read in court alleged that the defendants “dishonestly took the sum of
N527,406,916.66, property of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited.”
The
defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges; following their plea,
prosecution counsel, H. U. Kofarnaisa, asked the court for a trial date and
requested that the defendants be remanded in a correctional facility pending
trial.
Counsel to
the defendants, Oluwaseun Akintunde and Olajide S. Onasanya, informed the court
that bail applications had been filed and urged the court to grant bail on
liberal terms.
The
statement further noted that after listening to both parties, Justice Ijelu
granted each defendant bail in the sum of N2 million with two sureties in like
sum.
The court
directed that one surety must be a gainfully employed relative and must provide
evidence of tax payment for the last three years alongside proof of livelihood.
The
defendants were ordered to deposit their international passports with the court
and were barred from travelling outside the country without the court’s
permission.
They were
subsequently remanded in a correctional facility pending the perfection of
their bail conditions.
The matter
was adjourned till March 25, 2026, for the commencement of trial.
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