LOTUS Bank Limited has suffered another significant financial setback, having been defrauded of N336,993,863.35 by an employee, merely two months after a loss of N1,134,491,604.31.
An affidavit submitted by Gbenga Ojerinde, a fraud
investigation officer at the bank, and filed by Lagos attorney Efe Eze-Iyamu,
disclosed that LOTUS Bank identified questionable Mudarabah profits credited to
customer accounts.
A thorough investigation covering the period from January
2023 to May 2024 revealed fraudulent actions by Abdulkarim Arome Mohammed, a
member of the Financial Control Department.
Mohammed is accused of misusing his system access to
distribute profits to three ineligible accounts: one belonging to his spouse,
Khadijah Aliyu Shuaib (a FINCON Officer tasked with profit allocation), and two
others associated with Peter Daniel and Emmanuel Ocheja Odogwu.
The total amount involved in the fraud is N336,993,863.35.
An examination of Peter Daniel’s account indicated that
funds were transferred to his personal accounts across two banks.
Additionally, significant amounts from Khadijah Aliyu
Shuaibu’s account were redirected to Cresco Oil & Gas Limited, a company
co-owned by Mohammed, his wife, and Peter Daniel.
Upon uncovering the fraudulent activities, LOTUS Bank
notified the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), which
subsequently informed the relevant banks to freeze the accounts and reverse the
transactions.
While some banks have partially complied, others have not.
LOTUS Bank has sought a court order to impose a
post-no-debit restriction on the implicated accounts to prevent further loss of
funds.
The bank has also committed to indemnifying the financial
institutions against any claims if the court deems the application unwarranted.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke has directed the 28 financial
institutions listed to enforce post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts of
the beneficiaries corresponding to the fraudulent amounts received.