A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted Abubakar Sani, sentencing him to one year in prison for his involvement in a N16.6 million bank fraud.
Sani, who was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on April 30, 2025, faced a one-count charge of stealing.
The charge read: “That you, Abubakar Sani, sometime in July 2024, in Lagos within the Ikeja jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession N16,684,018.08 (Sixteen Million, Six Hundred and Eighty-Four Thousand, Eighteen Naira and eight Kobo), funds reasonably suspected to have been stolen from Lotus Bank, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 329 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
Sani pleaded “guilty” to the charge, prompting prosecution counsel Fanen Anum to present the facts of the case to solidify his conviction.
Anum explained that Sani’s arrest followed a petition from Lotus Bank, which in July 2024 reported fraudulent activities involving 718 of its customers who had exploited a malfunction in the bank’s e-bill payment platform to make unauthorised transfers. Investigations revealed that Sani had gained possession of the stolen sum, transferring it through multiple accounts, including those belonging to himself and his brother.
Sani was trailed and apprehended, later confessing to the crime and giving a statement under caution. The prosecution submitted his voluntary statement and other incriminating evidence as part of the case against him, which was accepted by the court.
Justice O.A. Okunuga sentenced Sani to one year in prison or a fine of one million naira. Additionally, the court ordered the forfeiture of N1,099,485.18 found in his Keystone Bank account and N4,182,406.54 transferred to his brother’s account at Access Bank.
