By Akin Kuponiyi
LOTUS Bank Limited faces another financial blow, having been defrauded of N336,993,863.35 by one of its employees, just two months after losing N1,134,491,604.31.
In an affidavit sworn by Gbenga Ojerinde, a fraud investigation officer at the bank, and filed by Lagos lawyer Efe Eze-Iyamu, it was revealed that LOTUS Bank discovered suspicious Mudarabah profits paid to customer accounts.
A comprehensive review from January 2023 to May 2024 uncovered fraudulent activities by Abdulkarim Arome Mohammed, a staff member in the Financial Control Department.
Mohammed allegedly exploited his system privileges to allocate profits to three undeserving accounts: one belonging to his wife, Khadijah Aliyu Shuaib (a FINCON Officer responsible for profit distribution), and two others belonging to Peter Daniel and Emmanuel Ocheja Odogwu. The total fraudulent amount was N336,993,863.35.
A review of Peter Daniel’s account showed that funds were transferred to his personal accounts at two banks. Funds from Khadijah Aliyu Shuaibu’s account were largely moved to Cresco Oil & Gas Limited, a company owned and managed by Mohammed, his wife, and Peter Daniel.
Upon discovering the fraud, LOTUS Bank alerted the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), which then notified the respondent banks to freeze the accounts and reverse the funds. Some banks have partially complied, while others have not.
LOTUS Bank has requested the court to place a post-no-debit restriction on the accounts involved to prevent further dissipation of the funds.
The bank has also pledged to indemnify the financial institutions against any liability if the court finds the application was unjustified.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke has ordered the 28 listed financial institutions to impose post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts of the beneficiaries to the extent of the fraudulent amounts received.
