Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned one Akpojiyouwi Grace before Justice Babajide Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos High Court sitting at Ikeja, on a one-count charge bordering on failure to conduct due diligence in financial transactions.
The accused, a former employee of Union Bank Plc, is accused of complicity in the mega scam that rocked the bank early this year, when some fraudsters hacked into its data base and pulled out hundreds of millions of naira.
Akpojiyouwi allegedly failed to conduct due diligence, as the account officer of Dan Kawu Bureau De Change, before confirming and authorising the payment of N450m to the company.
The charge read: “Akpojiyouwi Grace 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 conduct of financial transactions with one Dan Kawu Bureau De Change by confirming and authorising payment of the sum of 450 million fraudulently transferred by hacking into Union Bank database (flexcube) and transferring the said sum to Union Bank Plc account of one Dan Kawu Bureau De Change domiciled in Lagos and thereby facilitated the crediting and withdrawal of the said sum by Dan”.
When the charge was read, the defendant pleaded not guilty and, based on the plea of the defendant, the prosecution counsel prayed the court to fix a date for trial and to remand the defendant in prison custody pending trial.
Justice Lawal Akapo adjourned the case to 19th February 2014 for hearing and ordered that the defendant be remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Prison till the date.
