A 26-year-old commercial banker, Ndulaka Okwudili, and two other suspects, Ifeanyi Nnamani and Philip Ozogwu, aged 44, have been arraigned in the Enugu North District Magistrate Court for the alleged theft of N4 million.
Okwudili and Nnamani were remanded in custody, and Ozogwu was granted bail. The case file has been forwarded to the Attorney General of Enugu State for legal review.
The three suspects were alleged to have conspired to withdraw huge sums of money after using the identity of an Australia-based Nigerian, Mba Ndukwe.
The force spokesperson, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Daniel Ndukwe, in a statement dated 28 November, disclosed the money was withdrawn from the victims account via fraudulent means.
According to Ndukwe, the management of the bank’s branch, whose details were withheld, raised an alarm of fraud after observing the transaction activities made on the victim’s account.
Details revealed from the Command’s State Criminal Investigation Department’s Crack Squad (D16) noted that Okwudili admitted to the crime.
Recounting the arrest, on October 2023, Okwudili said he found a bag containing various valuable items, including different SIM cards, at Nowas Junction in Trans-Ekulu in Enugu State.
The journey of withdrawing money from the victims account began in January 2024, according to Okwudili.
After inserting the Airtel SIM card Okwudili found inside the bag, he received a large credit alert prompting further withdrawals from him and others by using a USSD banking code.
The primary suspect, Okwudili, was alerted in September 2024 to a “Post No Debit” status on the targeted account.
He colluded with Nnamani, a 17-year bank employee, who advised him to alter his National Identification Number (NIN) details to match those of the legitimate account owner, Mba Ndukwe.
Okwudili paid NIN enrolment agent Ozogwu N40,000 to unlawfully modify his personal details, including his name and date of birth.
With the falsified NIN, Nnamani facilitated the fraudulent reactivation of the account, bypassing standard verification processes, including the BVN link.
Later, Okwudili withdrew N100,000, giving Nnamani N50,000 as compensation. He later withdrew ₦1.5 million, triggering alerts from the bank’s Ohafia, Abia State branch, leading to the fraud’s detection.
On October 18, 2024, Okwudili was arrested at the Enugu branch during another transaction attempt, alongside Nnamani. Ozogwu was apprehended shortly after.
Enugu State Police Commissioner Kanayo Uzuegbu commended the bank for exposing the fraud and urged the public to safeguard personal identification information to prevent similar crimes.
