They were said to have fraudulently opened an account, withdrawn and converted the sum of $60,000 in the name of one Major General Umaru Mohammed, a customer of the bank, without his knowledge.
Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has remanded Anieka Udoh, who was arraigned alongside Ecobank Plc, on a five-count charge bordering on fraud preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
They were said to have fraudulently opened an account, withdrawn and converted the sum of $60,000 in the name of one Major General Umaru Mohammed, a customer of the bank, without his knowledge.
They also left a balance of $9.2million in the account.
Mrs. Bilkisu Buhari, counsel to the EFCC, told the court that Ecobank and Udoh committed the offence sometime in 2009 and 2016, respectively, with two accounts domicilled with Ecobank.
The offence contradicts section 7(3) of the Advance Free Fraud and Other Related Offences Act.
The charges read: "That you, Ecobank Plc and one Anieka Udoh, whilst being an employee of Ecobank Plc, on or about the 28th day of January, 2016, at Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court negligently failed to exercise due diligence in relation to conduct of financial transactions with Major General Umaru Mohammed fraudulently opened and operated an Ecobank Account No. 0015052989 in the name of Mohammed Umaru without the knowledge and authority of the customer, Mohammed Umaru and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 7(3)(a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 7(3) and (b) of the same Act.
“That you, Ecobank Plc and one Anieka Udoh, whilst being an employee of Ecobank Plc, on or about the 28th day of January, 2016, at Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court negligently failed to exercise due diligence in relation to conduct of financial transactions with Major General Umaru Mohammed fraudulently opened and operated an Ecobank Account No. 0015052999 in the name of Mohammed Umaru without the knowledge and authority of the customer, Mohammed Umaru and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 7(3)(a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 7(3) and (b) of the same Act.
“That you, Ecobank Plc and one Anieka Udoh, whilst being an employee of Ecobank Plc, on or about the 23rd day of January, 2016, at Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court negligently failed to exercise due diligence in relation to conduct of financial transactions with Major General Umaru Mohammed fraudulently withdrew and converted the sum of USD10,000.00 (ten thousand United States Dollars) from Mohammed Umaru Ecobank Domiciliary Account No. 4331361424 without his knowledge and authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 7(3)(a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 7(3) and (b) of the same Act.
“That you, Ecobank Plc and one Anieka Udoh, whilst being an employee of Ecobank Plc, sometime in 2009 at Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court negligently failed to exercise due diligence in relation to conduct of financial transactions with Major General Umaru Mohammed fraudulently converted Major General Umaru Mohammed Ecobank Mastercard Account No. 0015052989 from debit card to credit card and consequently debited Major General Mohammed Account in the sum of over USD50,000 (fifty thousand United States Dollars) without the knowledge and authority of Major General Umaru Mohammed and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 7(3)(a) and (b) of the same Act.
“That you, Ecobank Plc and one Anieka Udoh, whilst being an employee of Ecobank Plc, sometime in 2016 at Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court negligently failed to exercise due diligence in relation to conduct of financial transactions with Major General Umaru Mohammed fraudulently converted Major General Umaru Mohammed Ecobank Domiciliary Account to Naira Account Number 0015052989 without the knowledge and authority of Major General Umaru Mohammed and consequently left a debit of N9.2million in the said Naira account and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 7(3)(a) and (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006 and punishable under Section 7(3) and (b) of the same Act.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge.
Subsequently, Justice Saidu adjourned to case till March 12, 2019 and remanded Udoh at Ikoyi Prison, pending bail.