Man Sentenced to One Year in Jail for N1.13 Billion Bank Fraud

Man Sentenced to One Year in Jail for N1.13 Billion Bank Fraud

Justice Olubusola Okunuga of the Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday sentenced one Abubakar Sani to one year in prison for the fraudulent conversion of over N1.13 billion.

Sani was convicted after pleading guilty to the amended charges brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The amended information was dated April 30, 2025.

In her judgment, Justice Okunuga noted that the court took into account the fact that Sani was a first-time offender and saved the court’s time by entering a guilty plea.

“The defendant, having pleaded guilty to the amended information and admitting the review of facts and exhibits tendered by the prosecutor, is hereby convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment with an option of N1 million fine,” the judge ruled.

Additionally, she ordered the forfeiture of funds found in the defendant’s Access Bank and Keystone Bank accounts to the Federal Government.

During the sentencing, EFCC prosecutor Fanen Anum told the court that the commission had received a petition from Lotus Bank in July 2024. The petition alleged that about 718 customers exploited a malfunction in the bank’s E-bill pay platform to initiate illegal fund transfers, leading to a loss of over N1.13 billion.

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Fanen said the defendant benefited N16,684,018 from the fraud and transferred part of the money to his brother’s Access Bank account.

“My Lord the sum of N4,182,406.54 was traced to the Access bank account number 1623542076 of Usman Sani, the elder brother of the defendant and also the sum of N1,099,485.18 was traced to the Keystone Bank account of the defendant with account number 6038086328 with the name Abubakar Sani which were also frozen in the course of investigation,” Fanen explained.

To support his case, the prosecutor tendered the defendant’s extrajudicial statement, bank statements from both Access Bank and Keystone Bank and other supporting exhibits—all admitted by the court without objection from the defense counsel, Ogunlaye.