Ex-head of operations at a Nigerian bank jailed for fraud
- The EFCC has secured a conviction against one Paul Onwughalu, a former head of operations, Union Bank Plc, Head Office, Marina, Lagos
- He had been arrested by the anti-graft agency in 2014 and arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on failure to conduct due diligence in financial transactions
- Onwughalu was sentenced to jail for 3 years by the presiding judge, after he was found guilty of the charges leveled against him
A former head of operations, Union Bank Plc, Head Office, Marina, Lagos, Paul Onwughalu, has been sent to jail by Justice S.S. Ogunsanya of the Lagos state high court sitting in Igbosere, Premium Times reports.
The conviction follows the arraigning of Onwughalu by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a four-count charge bordering on failure to conduct due diligence in financial transactions.
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Legit.ng gathers that Onwughalu was arraigned by the anti-graft agency on February 24, 2014.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Paul Onwughalu, on or about the 9th of January, 2013, at Lagos within the Ikeja Judicial Division, whilst being an employee of Union Bank Plc, failed to exercise due diligence in relation to the conduct of financial transactions with one DanKawu Bureau De Change by confirming and authorizing payment of the sum of 450,000,000 (Four Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) fraudulently transferred by hacking into Union Bank database (flexcube) and transferring the said sum to Union Bank Plc account of one DanKawu Bureau De Change domiciled in Union Bank, Head Office Branch, Marina, Lagos and thereby facilitated the crediting and withdrawal of the said sum by one DanKawu Bureau De Change to various accounts in Ecobank, Diamond Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Dankawu Bureau De Change.”
The suspect pleaded not guilty to the charges at the time; thereby setting the stage for a full trial.
Delivering her judgement, Justice Ogunsanya sentenced the accused to three years in prison after finding him guilty.
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In a related development, Legit.ng previously reported that the EFCC Lagos Zonal Office, on February 26, 2018, arraigned one Nsa Ayi before Justice Mojisola Dada of the state high court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on an 11-count charge bordering on fraudulent false accounting to the tune of N700,000,000.00 (seven hundred million naira), an offence contrary to Section 335(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos state of Nigeria, 2011.
The defendant, a former relationship officer, Coronation Merchant Bank, allegedly connived with unknown parties to move funds using customers’ electronic instructions meant for investment in the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds, Treasury Bills and Fixed Deposits.
The defendant was also said to have altered instructions and falsified signatures of customers to transfer money into various accounts outside the bank. The money was allegedly transferred in tranches into the defendant’s Guaranty Trust Bank account No. 0001600855 as well as his Zenith Bank account No. 1002771899.
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Source: Legit.ng
