According to Punch, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibadan zonal office, has arrested one Kehinde Agbabiaka, a sales agent with Fidelity Bank Plc.
His arrest was sequel to a petition jointly signed by the bank’s Regional Security Officer and the Cluster Control and Compliance Manager, in which they alleged that the suspect suppressed, diverted and stole a total sum of N137,000,000 from the personal and corporate accounts of a customer in Ibadan
Filed on August 20, 2019, the petition alleged that Agbabiaka committed the offences between January 2017 and July 2019.
The suspect, who was the account officer attached to the customer, was said to have been visiting the business premises of the victim weekly to collect cash with the understanding that he would remit same to the customer’s accounts domiciled in the bank’s Challenge, Ibadan branch.
But, instead of depositing the money, Agbabiaka was said to have at different times remitted only a portion and on several occasions diverted the whole sums to his personal use.
In order to cover his criminal acts, the suspect, according to the petition, was issuing fictitious bank slips to deceive the customer that he truly deposited the sums.
This continued until the customer reviewed the statements of his accounts and reconciled same with the cash collection register. It was then he discovered Agbabiaka’s fraudulent deeds, prompting the bank to write the petition.
It was gathered that the EFCC investigators had established a prima facie case of funds diversion and stealing against the suspect.
Investigation also revealed that Agbabiaka had used the suppressed sums to build houses, purchase cars, invest in fixed deposits and buy insurance policies.
He also allegedly gave parts of the loot to people as friendly loans. It was gathered that some of the items had been recovered and registered as exhibits.
The suspect will be charged as soon as investigations are concluded, the EFCC stated.
