The management of Sterling Bank has accused one of its former employees,
Bawa Momodu, of stealing N27 million from a customer’s account.
The
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned
Momodu before Justice I. E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court sitting in
Port Harcourt, Rivers State on a 16-count charge bordering on forgery,
uttering and stealing to the tune of N27 million.According to
the Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, the accused
allegedly forged the signature of the said account holder and
fraudulently withdrew the money from the bank. He said: “Investigations
further revealed that the said amount was transferred to the Sterling
Bank account of one Emilia Ugwandu, who is now at large, in a bid to
hide the source of the stolen funds.”
The accused pleaded not guilty
to the charges preferred against him. In view of his plea, the
prosecution counsel, A. Olatunji, asked for a date for the commencement
of trial. However, the
defence counsel, Allen Nwogwama, prayed the court
to grant his client bail.
Ekwo granted the accused bail in the sum N7 million and one surety in like sum.
The surety must be a responsible member of the society with landed
property worth the bail sum, to be verified by the court registrar and
the prosecution.
The accused is also to be reporting at the EFCC
office on the last day of every month. In a related development, the
judge ordered that one Festus Agadi be remanded in prison custody till
September 23, when his application for bail would be considered.
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