The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, arraigned two senior officials of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Bakare Oladimeji Surajudeen and James Olukayode Imokwede, over alleged $306,667.81 and €50,250 fraud.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, Ikoyi.
The defendants, both top officials of the bank, were arraigned before Justice Ismaila Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on a 10-count charge bordering on alleged stealing and retention of stolen property.
According to the Commission, an internal audit by the bank uncovered unauthorized debits totalling $306,667.81 and €50,250 (equivalent to N527,406,916.66) from its Letters of Credit (LC) payable accounts.
Investigations revealed that the defendants processed fraudulent transfers through the SWIFT platform to third parties.
One of the counts reads:
Another count reads:
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to all charges.
Prosecution counsel, H. U. Kofarnaisa, requested trial dates and urged that the defendants be remanded in a Correctional facility pending trial.
The defendants were remanded in a Correctional facility pending the perfection of their bail conditions. The trial is scheduled to commence on March 25, 2026.
It follows similar high-profile prosecutions, including the recent arraignment of three senior officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation over N2.04 billion alleged fraud, unlawful enrichment, and money laundering. They were arraigned on separate charges involving corruption, abuse of office, and money laundering.
The defendants were brought before Justice Ekerete Akpan of the Federal High Court in Abuja alongside their companies, Onome Global Market Resources Limited and Lexicon Multi-concept Media Limited, on charges linked to investment fraud and money laundering.