Ekiti Court sentences Ex-banker, wife, mother-in-law to 60 years in prison for stealing depositors’ fund

An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, on Friday, July 24, sentenced a former bank cashier, Ebenezer Adeolu Alonge, his wife, Isakunle Olamide Oyinlola and mother-in-law Isakunle Eunice Moradeke to 60 years imprisonment.

The trio, before Justice Adekanye Ogunmoye, was charged with a 12-count charge of conspiracy and stealing contrary to section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Laws Cap 16 Laws of Ekiti 2012.

The convicts were found guilty on all counts and sentenced to five years on each. The prison terms will run concurrently.

The convicts were prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Ogunmoye ruled that the prosecution team led by Abdulrasheed Suleiman proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

EFCC, in the course of the trial, called two witnesses and tendered several exhibits to prove their case.

Sometime in February 2018, the bank Alonge worked on received a complaint about financial impropriety of N62,400 in respect of a customer’s account.

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In a petition to the EFCC, on February 15, 2017, a customer lodged an amount into her account but the transaction could not be traced even after presenting a copy of the slip signed by Alonge.

The money transaction was later traced to Alonge’s wife’s account.

Further investigation revealed over N21,000,000 diverted from other customers in the spouse’s account.

Other sums were traced to Alonge’s mother-in-law’s account, a beneficiary of the fraud.

The court ordered Alonge to forfeit his house, which shall be sold and the proceeds used to restitute the bank.

A statement by the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, on Friday, where it was revealed that the trio conspired to steal depositors’ funds to the tune of N21m.

“It was alleged that sometime in February 2018, the bank received a complaint concerning the financial impropriety of the sum of N62,400.00 in respect of a customer’s account,” the statement revealed.

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It continued, “According to the petitioner, on February 15, 2017, a customer lodged the said sum into her account but the transaction could not be traced in the customer’s account, even after the customer presented a copy of the slip signed by Alonge.

 “In the course of the investigation, the said transaction was allegedly traced to Ebenezer Alonge’s wife’s account.

“Further investigation, however, revealed that there was a turnover of over N21,000,000.00 (Twenty-One Million Naira) as a deposit from other customers in his wife’s account.”

“Also, it was alleged that other sums were traced to his mother-in-law’s account, who was also a beneficiary of the fraudulent act.”

During judgment, the convicts were found guilty on all 12 counts and sentenced to five years on each count.

The cumulative 60-year prison terms will, however, run concurrently.

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