LOTUS Bank Limited is facing a significant financial setback after being defrauded of N336,993,863.35 by an employee, just two months after a previous loss of N1,134,491,604.31.
In an affidavit submitted by Gbenga Ojerinde, a fraud investigation officer at the bank, and filed by Lagos lawyer Efe Eze-Iyamu, it was revealed that the bank uncovered suspicious Mudarabah profits credited to customer accounts.
An extensive review conducted from January 2023 to May 2024 identified fraudulent activities perpetrated by Abdulkarim Arome Mohammed, a staff member in the Financial Control Department. Mohammed allegedly abused his system privileges to allocate profits to three accounts that did not deserve them: one belonging to his wife, Khadijah Aliyu Shuaib, who is also a FINCON Officer responsible for profit distribution, as well as two others held by Peter Daniel and Emmanuel Ocheja Odogwu.
The total amount involved in this fraudulent scheme is N336,993,863.35. Investigations revealed that funds from Peter Daniel’s account were transferred to accounts at two different banks, while significant amounts from Khadijah Aliyu Shuaibu’s account were moved to Cresco Oil & Gas Limited, a company co-owned by Mohammed, his wife, and Peter Daniel.
Upon discovering the fraud, LOTUS Bank promptly notified the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), which then alerted the relevant banks to freeze the implicated accounts and reverse the transactions. While some banks have complied, others have yet to take action.
To prevent further dissipation of the funds, LOTUS Bank has sought a court order for post-no-debit restrictions on the involved accounts. The bank has also committed to indemnifying the financial institutions against any liability should the court rule that the application was unwarranted.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke has ordered the 28 financial institutions listed to enforce post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts of the beneficiaries, corresponding to the total amount fraudulently received.
