An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti, last Friday, sentenced a former bank cashier, Ebenezer Adeolu Alonge; his wife, Isakunle Olamide Oyinlola, and his mother-in-law, Isakunle Eunice Moradeke, to 60 years imprisonment
That was after the trial judge, Justice Adekanye Ogunmoye convicted the trio on a 12-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
The charge was preferred against them by the Ibadan Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to a statement by EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the offences were said to be contrary to Section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Laws Cap 16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
This was revealed in a statement by EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren.
Justice Ogunmoye, in his judgement, ruled that the prosecution team led by Abdulrasheed Lanre Suleiman proved their case beyond reasonable doubt and that the convicts had failed to extricate themselves from the self-evidenced proofs before the court.
EFCC, in the course of the trial, called two witnesses and tendered several exhibits to prove its case.
The convicts were found guilty on all the 12-count charges and sentenced to five years on each count.
The cumulative 60-year prison terms will, however, run concurrently.
The journey to the dock started when the illicit activities of Ebenezer got exposed through a petition to the EFCC from one of the new generation banks which alleged that one of its staff, by name Ebenezer Adeolu Alonge, was involved in fraudulent activities.
It was alleged that sometime in February 2018, the bank received a complaint concerning the financial impropriety of the sum of N62,400 in respect of a customer’s account.
According to the petitioner, on February 15, 2017, a customer lodged the said sum into her account but the transaction could not be traced in the customer’s account even after the customer presented a copy of the slip signed by Alonge.
In the course of the investigation, the said transaction was allegedly traced to Ebenezer Alonge’s wife’s account. Further investigation, however, revealed that there was a turnover of over N21,000,0000 as a deposit from other customers in his wife’s account.
Also, it was alleged that other sums were traced to his mother-in-law’s account, who was also a beneficiary of the fraudulent act.
The court also ordered Alonge to forfeit his house, “which shall be sold and the proceeds used to restitute the bank.”
