Justice Adekanye Ogunmoye of Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti sentenced the trio on 12 counts of conspiracy and stealing contrary to section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Laws Cap 16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012, brought against them by the Ibadan zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
A former bank cashier, Ebenezer Adeolu Alonge, his wife, Isakunle Olamide Oyinlola, and his mother-in-law, Isakunle Eunice Moradeke were on Friday convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Justice Adekanye Ogunmoye of Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti sentenced the trio on 12 counts of conspiracy and stealing contrary to section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Laws Cap 16 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012, brought against them by the Ibadan zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).
Justice Ogunmoye, in his judgement, ruled that the prosecution team, led by Abdulrasheed Lanre Suleiman, proved their case beyond reasonable doubt and that the suspects failed to extricate themselves from the evidence before the court.
The EFCC, in the course of the trial, called two witnesses and tendered several exhibits to prove their case.
The convicts were found guilty on all 12 counts and sentenced to five years on each count. The cumulative 60 years 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 alleging that one of her staff members by the 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, 400.00 in respect of a customer’s account.
According to the petitioner, on February 15, 2017, a customer put 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, 000,000.00 (Twenty-One Million Naira) as deposits 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.
