EFCC Charges FSDH Bank Officials with Theft of $306,667

On Thursday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned two senior officials of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Bakar Oladimeji and Surajudeen Jame, at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja. They face 10 counts of theft involving $306,667.81 and €50,250, totaling approximately N527,406,916.66.

The EFCC's investigation revealed that the defendants allegedly processed unauthorized debit transactions through the bank's internal audit, leading to the theft of these amounts from the bank. The charges state that the defendants dishonestly took the sums belonging to FSDH Merchant Bank Limited within the court's jurisdiction in 2021.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Following their pleas, prosecuting counsel H.U.

Kofarnaisa requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in custody pending trial. The defense counsel, Oluwaseun Akintunde and Olajide Onasanya, informed the court of a bail application filed, requesting that the court grant bail on liberal terms.