EFCC arrests bank official for serial fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested one Onyekachi Nwosu, the relationship/account officer of a new generation bank in Enugu over a case of multiple conspiracies, forgeries and bank fraud involving over a hundred million naira.

The 33-year-old native of Mbaise, Imo State is purported to have provided false information to his bank to facilitate the approval of a loan of N50 million to Floxy Aluminium Odiofele Products Limited in 2010.

The suspect claimed that Anyaso Chinedu, the managing director of Floxy Aluminium Odiofele Products, approached the bank for a N30 million loan facility but could not secure it because of insufficient collateral. He claimed that a non customer, Femi Akintobi approached the bank for a N40 million facility and came with sufficient collateral which he then use to secure a N50 million loan from which Akintobi got N40 million while Floxy Aluminium was given N10 million.

Akintobi allegedly defaulted in repaying the forty million naira while the collateral was discovered to have been forged.

However, Nwosu admitted that he initiated the loan request and that the bank was unaware of the arrangement between himself, Femi Akintobi and Floxy Aluminium.

In a related development, Nwosu is alleged to have connived with one Nnamdi Mezue to defraud his bank of N36.8 million in another crooked loan scheme. Under the pretext of helping Mezue to fund his account to enable him secure a UK visa, Nwosu approved a temporary overdraft for him, after extracting a commitment from Mezue to withdraw the funds from his account and hand over to him ( Nwosu).

Nwosu then credited Mezue's account with N36 million and later withdrew the money with cheques Mezue had signed and given to him.

The suspect will soon be arraigned in court.