The Police in Lagos have arraigned one Fatiu Mohammed, a marketing agent of a commercial bank in Matori, Mushin area of Lagos State, for diverting the savings of one of the bank’s customers.
The money, belonging to one Rose Okoye, was estimated at N3,441,000.
City Round learnt that the suspect, Mohammed, perpetrated the alleged fraud on December 14, 2018, after he snapped the account details of the customer from the computer screen of his colleague, who is an account officer.
Okoye was said to have complained to the bank when she discovered the fraud and petitioned the police at the Area D Command, Mushin.
During the investigation, the closed circuit television (CCTV) showed Mohammed taking photographs of the computer screen with his phone to get account information, which prompted his arrest.
“On December 11, 2018, Mohammed, who is a direct sales agent of the bank was seen viewing and taking photographs with his phone from the computer screen of the account officer during the working hours. He extracted information on the account of the woman. It was discovered that on December 14, an unauthorised transfer of the sum of N3,441,000 was made from the woman’s account to another one. It is believed that the viewing of the account details led to the unauthorised transfer,” a source told our correspondent.
In his statement, Mohammed admitted to taking photographs of some information on the computer screen, but denied snapping account details of the woman, insisting that he did not commit the fraud.
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He claimed to have sent the information to customers, who had registered with the bank through him, to enable them to have better understanding of the services offered by the bank.
A police prosecutor, Inspector Koti Aondohemba, arraigned him before an Ogba Magistrate’s Court on two counts of fraud to which he pleaded not guilty.
The counts read in part, “That you, Fatiu Mohammed and others now at large, on December 14, 2018, at Diamond Bank Plc, Motori Branch, Mushin, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit stealing, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
“That you, Fatiu Mohammed and others now at large, on December 14, 2018, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did steal the sum of N3,441,000 from the account of one Rose Okoye, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 280 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.”
The presiding magistrate, M. O. Tanimola, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in the like sum and adjourned the case till March 13, 2019.