Lotus Bank Limited has been hit by a massive insider fraud scandal, with a staff member allegedly siphoning over N336 million, according to reports by Apples Bite Magazine. The suspect, Abdulkarim Arome Mohammed, a member of the bank’s Financial Control Department, is accused of exploiting his system access to embezzle a total of N336,993,863.35. This fraud comes just two months after the bank reported losing N1.13 billion in a separate fraudulent incident.
An affidavit filed by the bank’s fraud investigation officer, Gbenga Ojerinde, and Lagos-based lawyer Efe Eze-Iyamu, revealed that the scam was uncovered during an internal investigation into suspicious Mudarabah profit payments made to customer accounts. The investigation covered transactions between January 2023 and May 2024, which ultimately exposed Mohammed’s fraudulent activities.
According to the affidavit, Mohammed allocated unearned profits to three accounts, one of which belonged to his wife, Khadijah Aliyu Shuaib, who also worked in the Financial Control Department, responsible for overseeing profit distribution. The other two accounts were linked to individuals named Peter Daniel and Emmanuel Ocheja Odogwu.
Further investigation revealed that funds from Peter Daniel’s account were transferred to his accounts in two other banks. Meanwhile, funds from Khadijah Shuaib’s account were traced to Cresco Oil & Gas Limited, a company reportedly managed by Mohammed, his wife, and Peter Daniel. In total, the fraud amounted to N336,993,863.35.
Upon discovering the fraudulent transactions, Lotus Bank immediately notified the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), prompting them to alert other banks to freeze the implicated accounts and reverse the stolen funds. While some banks complied with the directive, others have yet to take action.
In response, Lotus Bank filed a court request to impose post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts involved to prevent further movement of the fraudulent funds. The bank also pledged to indemnify the financial institutions involved if the court later found that the restrictions were unnecessary.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke has ordered 28 listed financial institutions to place post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts associated with the fraudulent scheme in line with the amounts received by each account.
The investigation is ongoing, as the bank seeks to recover the misappropriated funds and ensure accountability for the internal breach.Lotus Bank Limited has been hit by a massive insider fraud scandal, with a staff member allegedly siphoning over N336 million, according to reports by Apples Bite Magazine. The suspect, Abdulkarim Arome Mohammed, a member of the bank’s Financial Control Department, is accused of exploiting his system access to embezzle a total of N336,993,863.35. This fraud comes just two months after the bank reported losing N1.13 billion in a separate fraudulent incident.
An affidavit filed by the bank’s fraud investigation officer, Gbenga Ojerinde, and Lagos-based lawyer Efe Eze-Iyamu, revealed that the scam was uncovered during an internal investigation into suspicious Mudarabah profit payments made to customer accounts. The investigation covered transactions between January 2023 and May 2024, which ultimately exposed Mohammed’s fraudulent activities.
According to the affidavit, Mohammed allocated unearned profits to three accounts, one of which belonged to his wife, Khadijah Aliyu Shuaib, who also worked in the Financial Control Department, responsible for overseeing profit distribution. The other two accounts were linked to individuals named Peter Daniel and Emmanuel Ocheja Odogwu.
Further investigation revealed that funds from Peter Daniel’s account were transferred to his accounts in two other banks. Meanwhile, funds from Khadijah Shuaib’s account were traced to Cresco Oil & Gas Limited, a company reportedly managed by Mohammed, his wife, and Peter Daniel. In total, the fraud amounted to N336,993,863.35.
Upon discovering the fraudulent transactions, Lotus Bank immediately notified the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), prompting them to alert other banks to freeze the implicated accounts and reverse the stolen funds. While some banks complied with the directive, others have yet to take action.
In response, Lotus Bank filed a court request to impose post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts involved to prevent further movement of the fraudulent funds. The bank also pledged to indemnify the financial institutions involved if the court later found that the restrictions were unnecessary.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke has ordered 28 listed financial institutions to place post-no-debit restrictions on the accounts associated with the fraudulent scheme in line with the amounts received by each account.
The investigation is ongoing, as the bank seeks to recover the misappropriated funds and ensure accountability for the internal breach.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
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