Banker Jailed 39 Years For Stealing Deceased Customer's N30m

                       

Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of the Lagos State High Court yesterday sentenced one Olawale Garuba to 39 years imprisonment for stealing from the dead.

The convict was arraigned alongside six others in July 2015 for conspiring among themselves to steal over N30, 000,000 (Thirty Million Naira) from the bank account of a deceased customer of a new generation bank where the convict works.

Part of the statement signed by the head of media and publicity of the Commission, Wilson Uwujaren noted that the fraud was uncovered by the bank when they discovered that some of their staff, including the convict had connived with proxies to steal from a dormant account of one of the bank’s customers.

Upon the discovery of the fraud, the bank apprehended the staff and handed them over to EFCC for investigation and prosecution.

Upon their arraignment, they pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of fraud. Subsequently, Justice Ipaye refused their bail application and remanded them in prison custody.

However, on June 2, 2016 the convict changed his plea from ‘not guilty’ to ‘guilty’.

He was immediately convicted by Justice Ipaye, who adjourned the case to yesterday for sentencing. Counsel representing the convict, O. Ajanaku pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy in sentencing his client. He told the court that his client was a remorseful first time offender with a young wife and two little children.