Banker jailed for 10 years over N9.2m fraud

Posted by admin Headlines Thursday, February 16th, 2012

A Lagos High Court in Ikeja has sentenced a former employee of United Bank for Africa Plc, Romeo Omenogor, to 10 years imprisonment for defrauding the bank of N9.2m.

Justice Joseph Oyewole, in his judgment delivered on Wednesday, also ordered 38-year-old Omenogor to pay the bank the sum of N6.6m as restitution.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had on February 19, 2007, arraigned Omenogor and an accomplice, Francis Ineh, before the court on 30 counts, including conspiracy, falsification of accounts and obtaining by false pretence.

Ineh had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted and sentenced. But Omenogor pleaded not guilty and opted to undergo full trial.

The EFCC had said Omenogor, an IT Specialist working in the Information Technology Support Group of the bank, used his position to transfer the money into Ineh’s account without authorisation.

The commission said the fraud was carried out between May and June 2007 at the Ugbowo Branch of the bank in Benin where Ineh had two accounts. It added that Ineh withdrew the money in FESTAC Town branch of the bank in Lagos.

Oyewole, in the judgment, held that the prosecution led by Mr. Anselem Ozioko proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Omenogor had conspired with Ineh to defraud the bank based on evidence before the court.

According to him, Omenogor, as a systems administrator, used the profile of one of the witnesses, Mrs. Ngozi Ikemba, to authorise the transaction without her knowledge or approval.

He said an audit trail by the bank system administrators showed that Ikemba was on training in Enugu, when Omenogor used her account to perpetrate the fraud.

“The accused as a Super user was well positioned to access the account even though he never worked in Benin,” Oyewole said.

-Punchwp_posts