Court Jails Convicted Fraudster For Laundering N12m linked To Bank Heist

Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced a serial fraudster, Oluokun Adekola, to three years in prison for his role in laundering N12 million linked to over N3.09 billion siphoned from customer bank accounts.

Justice Rahman also ordered Adekola to restitute N3.5 million to First City Monument Bank (FCMB) within three months.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on March 16, 2026, arraigned the convict before the court on a one-count charge of money laundering.

The EFCC told the court that the convict, in 2025, and others still at large, conspired to conceal and alter the origin of N12 million paid into his account.

The anti-graft agency had also claimed that the money was part of a larger sum of N3,091,441,849 stolen through unauthorised access and mobile banking scams from some accounts at First City Monument Bank.

The case revealed how fraudsters exploited vulnerabilities in digital banking channels, gaining unauthorised access to customer accounts, moving large sums undetected, and then converting the funds to cash through Point of Sale (POS) agents.

Adekola pleaded guilty during his arraignment.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the convict was, on 23 July 2020, convicted by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Ibadan and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for defrauding a Taiwanese national of $22,300.

During the current trial, the prosecutor, Ernest Okongwu, presented a certified copy of the 2020 judgment as Exhibit 1, marked with case number FHC/IB/32C/2018.

He also urged the court to order the convict to pay N3.5 million in restitution to the victim.

The defence lawyer, Fabian Nwaforji, pleaded for leniency, stating that his client was remorseful and had already served four years and six months in detention.

In his judgment, Justice Oshodi described the case as involving money laundering and noted Adekola’s history as a repeat offender.

Nonetheless, the judge considered his guilty plea and willingness to restitute.

He, therefore, sentenced Adekola to three years in prison and ordered him to return N3.5 million to FCMB within three months.