Nigeria: A Lagos microfinance bank is robbed of N150 million by four employees
By Ahmed Hadizat
In the FESTAC Town area of Lagos State, four men were arraigned on Friday at the Yaba Magistrates’ Court for allegedly defrauding their employer, Think Finance Microfinance Bank, of N150 million.
Ojimi Ayodeji, the head of risk management for the company, Isaac Eddy, the loan officer, Joseph Setonji, and Juwon Irinyemi are among the defendants. They were arraigned before Magistrate Patrick Nwaka on three counts of theft.
Thomas Nurudeen, the prosecutor, told the court that the defendants who worked for the company were supposed to give loans to people for business, but they conspired and used fake names to borrow N150 million from the company, which they divided among themselves without paying any interest and never paid back.
In order to obtain a loan, the defendants falsely represented individuals by providing them with fake passport photographs, account names, and bank verification numbers.
According to Nurudeen, the offenses were committed at the Think Finance Microfinance bank in FESTAC Town between the years 2019 and 2022.
According to Nurudeen, the violations are in violation of Sections 314, 325 (1), and 287 a) b) e) of the Lagos State, 2015 Criminal Law.
The charges read, among other things, “That you, Ojimi Ayodeji, head of risk management, Isaac Eddy, loan officer, Joseph Setonji, Juwon Irinyemi, and others now at large, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit fraud and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 325 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, at the Think Finance Microfinance Bank, FESTAC Town, Lagos, in the Lagos
“That you, Ojimi Ayodeji, head of risk management, Isaac Eddy, loan officer, Joseph Setonji, Juwon Irinyemi, and others currently at large, fraudulently allocated loans of N150 million to the individual representing them with BVN, account name, and passport photographs that were not real, the representation which you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015,” according to the statement
The defendant, on the other hand, denied the allegations.
One of the defense attorneys, Ola, pleaded with the court to grant them bail in the most generous terms.
Nwaka granted them bail in the amount of N2 million each with four responsible sureties in the same amount without opposition from the prosecution.
He stated that each surety would provide the court with a three-year tax clearance receipt and postponed the case until August 16, 2023.
