An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Wednesday sentenced Abubakar Sani to one year in prison for defrauding Lotus Bank of N16.7 million through fraudulent electronic transactions.
Justice Olubusola Okunuga handed down the judgment after Sani pleaded guilty to a revised one-count charge of possessing property suspected to have been unlawfully obtained.
The charge was brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
While delivering her verdict, Justice Okunuga acknowledged Sani’s status as a first-time offender and noted that he cooperated fully by not delaying the judicial process.
“Having pleaded guilty to the amended information and admitted to the review of facts and exhibits tendered by the prosecutor, the defendant is hereby convicted and sentenced to one-year imprisonment,” she ruled.
The court, however, gave Sani the option of paying a N1 million fine instead of serving the jail term.
Additionally, she ordered that the funds found in his Access Bank and Keystone Bank accounts be forfeited to the Federal Government.
During the hearing, EFCC counsel Fanen Anum narrated the circumstances surrounding the case.
He revealed that in July 2024, the commission received a petition from Lotus Bank reporting fraudulent activity linked to 718 customers who exploited a glitch in the bank’s E-bill pay platform to make unauthorized transfers.
As a result, the bank suffered losses amounting to N1.1 billion, transferred to various accounts across financial institutions.
According to Anum, Sani was among those who benefited from the breach, receiving N16.7 million.
A portion of the money, specifically N4,182,406.54, was traced to an Access Bank account owned by Sani’s elder brother, Usman Sani.
An additional N1,099,485.18 was found in Sani’s own Keystone Bank account, which was later frozen during the investigation.
The prosecutor presented several pieces of evidence, including Sani’s confession, bank statements from Access and Keystone Banks, and other relevant documents.
These were admitted into evidence without any objection from the defense.
The EFCC noted that Sani’s actions violated Section 329 of the Lagos State Criminal Laws, 2015.