“We observed suspicious overdraft limits maintained on customers’ accounts, which allowed them to access funds and transfer them to accounts maintained in both Access Bank and other banks”
EFCC Witness Details How Ex-Access Bank Staff Accessed Customers’ Accounts, Orchestrated N5.7 Billion Fraud
A dramatic courtroom revelation emerged on Friday as a prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) described how a former Access Bank employee allegedly exploited the bank’s internal systems to siphon off over N5.7 billion.
Abdulmajeed Agboola, a staff member of Access Bank Plc, testified before the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, detailing how Olajide Ogunmoroti—formerly with the bank’s Abakaliki branch—allegedly used a private laptop to gain unauthorized access to the bank’s server, triggering a critical system glitch.
Agboola told Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe that this glitch resulted in the manipulation of customers’ overdraft limits, enabling massive illegal withdrawals from unfunded accounts. The funds were allegedly transferred to various accounts within Access Bank and other financial institutions.
Multiple Defendants, Billions at Stake
Ogunmoroti is facing charges alongside Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike, and Moses Iruolaje. The EFCC has leveled an amended 10-count charge against them, including stealing, retention of proceeds of crime, money laundering, false pretence, and unauthorized access to computer materials.
The charges partly read:
“That you, Olajide Ogunmoroti, Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike, and Moses Iruolaje, sometime in 2023, with dishonest intent, stole and converted for your own use the sum of N2,253,827,379.23, being property of Access Bank Plc., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Sections 280 and punishable under Section 280 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
“That you, Olajide Ogunmoroti, Michael Igbomina, David Onyeike, and Moses Iruolaje, sometime in 2023, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with dishonest intent, stole and converted for your own use the sum of N3,473,166,731.00 (Three Billion, Four Hundred and Seventy-Three Million, One Hundred and Sixty-Six Thousand, Seven Hundred and Thirty-One Naira), property of Access Bank Plc., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Sections 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
Key Witness Testimony
Agboola, led in evidence by EFCC counsel Abdulhamid L. Tukur, testified that Ogunmoroti served as the ICT representative at the Abakaliki branch. He said that internal investigations traced the suspicious system activity to that location.
“There was a fraudulent overdraft limit maintained on our customers’ accounts, which enabled them to make withdrawals from unfunded accounts.
“We observed suspicious overdraft limits maintained on customers’ accounts, which allowed them to access funds and transfer them to accounts maintained in both Access Bank and other banks.
“We identified customers whose accounts benefited from the suspicious overdraft maintenance with total exposure of over N5 billion,” the witness revealed.
Adjournment and Broader Context
Justice Abike-Fadipe adjourned the case to May 20, 2025, for continued hearing.
In a related case, a Federal High Court in Abuja in 2024 granted an interim order freezing accounts in FairMoney, PalmPay, and Opay following a N139.6 million loss from a system glitch at TAJ Bank. The court ordered a reversal of the funds to the bank.
Expert Insight
A financial security consultant emphasized the need for Nigerian banks to tighten internal controls and improve system safeguards.
“Institutions must adopt robust IT policies and enhance interbank coordination to avoid vulnerabilities that can cost billions,” the consultant advised. Read More
