The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has sentenced Ojora Kehinde to seven years’ imprisonment for fraudulently converting N81.3 million belonging to Sterling Bank Plc.
In her judgement delivered on Friday, the judge, Mojisola Dada, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, describing the evidence against Mr Kehinde as “overwhelming.”
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She further directed the prosecution to pursue all legal avenues to ensure full restitution of the stolen funds to the bank.
The judge also issued a rare public rebuke of the defence counsel, branding him a “pathological liar” and questioning his professional standing over the manner in which he conducted the case.
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According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Kehinde exploited a temporary glitch in Sterling Bank’s electronic transfer system which allowed certain customers to move funds far above their actual balances.
On 17 May 2022, with only N3,000 in his account, Mr Kehinde transferred N500,000 in three tranches to his wife, Amina Ojora’s account.
He repeated similar transactions over time, eventually diverting N178.2 million in total. Of this, N122 million went directly into his wife’s account, while other sums were routed to additional beneficiaries.
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Sterling Bank recovered about N68 million during its internal investigation, but N81.3 million remained missing.
The Trial
The EFCC, through its counsel H.U. Kofarnaisa, charged Mr Kehinde in 2022 under Charge No. ID/20131C/2022.
The prosecution called two witnesses, including a Sterling Bank representative, and tendered documents such as the bank’s petition and transaction records.
The prosecution argued that Mr Kehinde’s actions constituted “dishonest conversion” as defined under the Criminal Law of Lagos State. Significantly, the defendant did not call any witnesses, choosing to rest his case on the prosecution’s evidence.
Judgement
Mrs Dada convicted Mr Kehinde under Section 280(2), punishable by Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
She also directed that efforts to recover the outstanding N81.3 million from the defendant continue.
The judgement stands out not only for the conviction but also for the judge’s scathing remarks about the defence counsel, which underscored the court’s disapproval of his conduct in the proceedings.
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The case fits into a wider pattern of fraud linked to system glitches in Nigerian banks. In May, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of about N1.29 billion stolen from Sterling Bank through a similar glitch, directing the funds to be returned to the bank.
Earlier in April, another Lagos court ordered the forfeiture of a property purchased with proceeds of an N89 million Sterling Bank fraud traced to the same system vulnerability.
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