EFCC arraigns ex-Access Bank employee over alleged N294.5m fraud. By Abibu Shehu Ibrahim
EFCC arraigns ex-Access Bank employee over alleged N294.5m fraud.
By Abibu Shehu Ibrahim
A former employee of Access Bank, Chinonso Akujobi, has been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations that he fraudulently diverted N294.5 million from customers’ accounts while working with the bank.
Akujobi was arraigned on Thursday before Justice I.O. Ijelu by the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 on a five-count charge bordering on alleged stealing.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendant allegedly diverted N294,595,992 while in the employment of Access Bank.
The EFCC alleged that between January and December 2025, Akujobi carried out unauthorised transactions by transferring funds from the bank’s general ledger into accounts linked to him.
One of the charges alleged that Akujobi, “with dishonest intent, and while under the employment of Access Bank Plc, stole and converted for your own use, by unauthorised payments from the general ledger of the bank to your Access Bank account, the sum of N109,325,566.86.”
The commission further alleged that part of the diverted funds was transferred into accounts bearing the names Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to all five charges.
Following his plea, EFCC prosecuting counsel, S.M. Yabo, urged the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending the determination of the case.
Justice Ijelu adjourned the matter until October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.
The court also ordered that Akujobi be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.
The case is one of several financial crime prosecutions involving alleged insider fraud in Nigeria’s banking sector.
The EFCC said investigations and prosecutions of financial misconduct remain ongoing, while the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court.
