Thursday, March, 5 2026 - The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,EFCC, has arraigned two officials of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited over an alleged fraud involving $306,667.81 and €50,250.
This was disclosed in a statement posted on the official
page of the Commission.
In the statement, the defendants, Bakare Oladimeji
Surajudeen and James Olukayode Imokwede, were on Tuesday, March 3, 2026,
brought before Justice Ismaila Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court sitting in
Ikeja.
According to the EFCC, the defendants were arraigned on a
10-count charge bordering on alleged stealing and retention of stolen property
belonging to FSDH Merchant Bank Limited.
The anti-graft agency stated that, “the petitioner, FSDH
Merchant Bank Limited, alleged that an internal audit uncovered unauthorized
debits totaling $306,667.81 and €50,250, equivalent to N527,406,916.66 five
hundred and twenty-seven Million, four hundred and six thousand, nine hundred
and sixteen naira, sixty six kobo.”
Investigations, the Commission said, showed that the
transfers were allegedly processed through the SWIFT platform to third parties.
One of the charges read in court alleged that the defendants
“dishonestly took the sum of N527,406,916.66, property of FSDH Merchant Bank
Limited.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges;
following their plea, prosecution counsel, H. U. Kofarnaisa, asked the court
for a trial date and requested that the defendants be remanded in a
correctional facility pending trial.
Counsel to the defendants, Oluwaseun Akintunde and Olajide
S. Onasanya, informed the court that bail applications had been filed and urged
the court to grant bail on liberal terms.
The statement further noted that after listening to both
parties, Justice Ijelu granted each defendant bail in the sum of N2 million
with two sureties in like sum.
The court directed that one surety must be a gainfully
employed relative and must provide evidence of tax payment for the last three
years alongside proof of livelihood.
The defendants were ordered to deposit their international
passports with the court and were barred from travelling outside the country
without the court’s permission.
They were subsequently remanded in a correctional facility
pending the perfection of their bail conditions.
The matter was adjourned till March 25, 2026, for the
commencement of trial.
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