Ecobank Manager Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Customers N200m

MICHAEL AKINOLA 

Ecobank Nigeria Limited Branch Manager, Sanusi Kayode Kareem, has landed in trouble after the Management discovered during an internal audit the alleged N200m fraud he committed for the past years as staff of the bank in Lagos State. 

Thus, he has been arrested for further investigation over the alleged fraud following the order of the Court for his remand as requested by the Police.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the suspect, Kareem, was the Bank branch manager of Aboyade Cole branch, Victoria Island, Lagos, when he allegedly committed the alleged fraud.

The arrest followed a petition by Ecobank to the Assistance Inspector General of Police, Zone 2 headquarters, Onikan, Lagos, after the management discovered the alleged fraud, handed him over to the Police for investigation and prosecution.

In the affidavit in support of application for his remand before the Ebute Metta Magistrate Court made by Investigating Police officer, Inspector Akinbuli Kehinde, attached to Zone 2. Police Headquarters, Onikun, Lagos State, in a statement made under oath, it stated as follows:

“That petitions dated 20th September, 2024 and 22nd September, 2024 was received by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 2, Headquarters. Onikan, Lagos, from Ecobank Nigeria Limited alleging a case of conspiracy, fraud and stealing of the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) from a customer’s account with the name Damcasan, Rockies and another N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) from different International Payday School customer’s accounts against the defendant, who is a staff of the Bank.”

“The petitioner further alleged that the defendant fraudulently transferred the above sum between April 2023 and September 2023 from the customer’s bank accounts without the knowledge and authority of the Bank or the owners of the accounts.”

“That preliminary investigation conducted by the Police shows that the Defendant carried out these fraudulent acts with other suspect, who is by name-Shola Adewale, ex-staff of the bank and he is still at large.”

The Bank had told the Police in the petition that in their internal audit review of the account, showed that Kayode Sanusi Kareem presently the Branch Manager of Aboyade Cole, Victoria Island, diverted large sum of funds from the bank’s General Ledger into different accounts in various banks in the last five  years.

The Bank alleged that he perpetrated the fraud while he was in the bank’s Local Corporate Unit of Commercial Banking Group and had confessed to have perpetrated the fraud in consonant with an ex-staff of the bank, Shola Adewale, who he claimed lured him into the fraudulent act.

The Bank urged the Police to investigate the matter with the aim of arresting and prosecuting everyone involved in the fraud.

Thus, the Police applied for remand warrant before the Chief Magistrate, Mrs. F.M.Kayode-Alamu and it was granted for further investigation on the matter.