Ex-Banker, Two Others Arraigned For Alleged Bank Fraud In Enugu
The Enugu State Police Command has announced the arrest of three suspects for an alleged bank fraud.
The suspects are Ndulaka Okwudili, 26; Ifeanyi Nnamani (a former staff member of an Enugu branch of a commercial bank), and Philip Ozogwu, 44.
They were charged with criminally conspiring to steal and use the identity of an Australia-based Nigerian, Mba John Ndukwe (male), to commit fraud.
According to a release by the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, the suspects were accused of withdrawing over N4m from the victim’s bank account through fraudulent means.
He stated that, “The arrests by police operatives from the Central Police Station (CPS) of the command followed an alarm raised by the management of the bank’s branch after the fraudulent activities were detected on the victim’s account.”
He said further investigations by police detectives from the command’s State Criminal Investigation Department’s Crack Squad (D16) revealed that Ndulaka Okwudili confessed to the crime.
Ndukwe stated that, “In October 2023, at Nowas Junction in Trans-Ekulu, Enugu, he found a bag containing various personal items, including SIM cards from different telecommunications networks.
“In January 2024, he inserted an Airtel SIM card found in the bag into his phone and received a large credit alert, leading him and others at large to begin withdrawing funds from the victims account using the USSD banking code.
“By September 2024, when Okwudili faced difficulties accessing the account, he visited the said bank branch. There, he colluded with Ifeanyi Nnamani, an employee of the bank with 17 years of service, who informed him that the account was on Post No Debit status.
“Nnamani advised Okwudili to obtain a court affidavit and modify his National Identification Number (NIN) details to match those of the account’s legitimate owner, Mba John Ndukwe, to gain access to the account.”
It was gathered that Okwudili enlisted the services of Philip Ozogwu, an NIN enrolment agent, who unlawfully changed his name, date of birth, and other personal details on his NIN to match those of the victim without questioning his intentions.
The statement added, “He gave Philip the sum of N40,000 for the service. With this altered information, Nnamani facilitated the fraudulent reactivation of the account, bypassing verification checks, including the Bank Verification Number (BVN) link.
“After reactivating the account, Okwudili immediately withdrew N100,000 and gave Nnamani N50,000 as a payment for his role. He later withdrew an additional N1,500,000, which triggered an alert from the bank’s Ohafia, Abia State branch, where the account was originally opened.
“This led to the detection of the fraud and the consequent reporting of the case to the police by the Enugu branch management of the bank. On October 18, 2024, when Okwudili attempted another transaction at the bank, he was arrested, along with Nnamani, by police officers from the Command’s CPS Enugu, while Ozogwu was later arrested.”
The three suspects, according to the release, were charged with conspiracy, identity theft, forgery, and fraud before the Enugu North District Magistrates’ Court.
The court, it was gathered, ordered that Ndulaka Okwudili and Ifeanyi Nnamani be remanded in the Nigerian Correctional Custodial custody, while Philip Ozogwu was granted bail pending further proceedings.
Ex-Banker, Two Others Arraigned For Alleged Bank Fraud In Enugu is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
