The Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has convicted Christopher Jackson Edeh, a former banker, for fraudulently altering bank account details linked to NNPC Trading Limited, the Lagos and Kano state governments, and other entities in a N2.7 billion fraud case.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed the conviction in a statement published on its official X account.
Edeh, who was first brought before the court on February 28, 2024, was found guilty on nine charges involving fraudulent false accounting and illegally accessing a computer system.
According to the EFCC, Edeh manipulated banking records belonging to corporate customers and government-related organisations with the intention of committing fraud.
The commission identified several accounts allegedly affected by the unauthorised alterations, including those belonging to public institutions and private companies.
The accounts included those of the “Kano State Government Power Intervention Fund, NNPC Trading Limited, Stallion Vision Ltd, the Lagos State Government Blue Line, the State Contributory Pension Account and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.”
During the proceedings, Z.B. Atiku, EFCC prosecuting counsel, presented three witnesses and submitted documentary evidence to support the charges against Edeh, while the defence called one witness.
Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe, delivering her judgment, ruled that the prosecution had established Edeh’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt on all nine counts.
The judge consequently handed him five years’ imprisonment on each of the first seven counts involving fraudulent false accounting, without an option of fine.
For the remaining two counts, which concerned illegal access to a computer system to facilitate criminal activities, the court imposed two years’ imprisonment on each count, also without an option of fine.
Although the individual sentences amounted to 39 years, the judge directed that they run concurrently, meaning Edeh will serve a maximum prison term of five years under the judgment.
The case dates back to September 2023, when Edeh, who was then employed by a tier 2 Nigerian bank, was accused of manipulating customers’ account information and gaining unauthorised access to the bank’s computer system.
The EFCC subsequently arraigned him before Justice Abike-Fadipe on nine charges under Sections 337 and 387 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
One of the charges alleged that Edeh, while working at the bank, “with intent to defraud, altered the customer account details of Dangote Cement Plc in possession of the bank.”
Another accused him of gaining unauthorised access to the bank’s Entrust portal in September 2023 to facilitate the alleged theft of N2,737,784,800.
Edeh denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him, prompting the prosecution to proceed with the case.
Edeh’s conviction follows several other fraud-related prosecutions involving former banking officials and individuals accused of financial misconduct in Nigeria.
