A 25-year old staff of Providus Bank Plc, Ibrahim Mohammed Garba, has been arrested and charged in Lagos State for allegedly forging a customer’s signature, withdrawing the sum of N25m from the account and using it to play lottery.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened on 1st and 15th September, 2023, at the bank’s branch located at Adeola Odeku Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, where Garba was deployed as a bank staff.
The Police alleged that the suspect committed the fraud by blocking the alert system of the account, which belongs to Mr. Delinbo Opeyemi, forged his signature, withdrew the sum of N25m and transferred the money to his account for his personal use.
However, nemesis caught up with him when the customer, Mr. Opeyemi, stormed the bank to complain to the management of the bank that he was no longer receiving alerts for transactions on his account and that they should restore it.
The bank officials swiftly restored the complainant’s bank alert and in the process, he discovered that N25m had been withdrawn from his account without his authority.
Following the development, the bank officials conducted an internal investigation and traced the alleged N25m withdrawal to the suspect and immediately contacted the Police at Bar Beach Division. They dispatched their team to the bank and arrested the suspect.
During investigation, the suspect allegedly confessed to the crime saying that he siphoned the money and used N20m to play lottery while the remaining N5m was used to buy clothes and equally enjoy himself.
The suspect, Garba, who is from Jigawa State, was handed a four-count charge bordering on forgery and stealing.
When he was arraigned at Tinubu Magistrate Court, the prosecuting counsel, Inspector Ajaga Agboko, informed the Court that the defendant betrayed the trust his employer reposed in him, forged the signature of a customer of his employer and stole the sum of N25m from his account.
He said the offences, the defendant committed were punishable under Section 363(1), 379, 280(2) and 73 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
However, he pleaded not guilty.
The Presiding Magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N5m with two sureties in like sum, who must show evidence of means of livelihood and adjourned the matter while the defendant was remanded in custody at the Correctional Centre pending when he will perfect his bail conditions.