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A former bank cashier, Ebenezer Adeolu Alonge, alongside his wife, Isakunle Olamide Oyinlola and mother-in-law, Isakunle Eunice Moradeke, were on Friday, July 23, convicted and sentenced to 60 years imprisonment by Justice Adekanye Ogunmoye of Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti.
The trio were arraigned on a 12-count-charge 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).
Ogunmoye, in his judgement, ruled that the prosecution team, led by Abdulrasheed Lanre Suleiman proved their case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that the convicts had failed to extricate themselves from the self-evidenced proofs before the court.
In the course of trial, EFCC called two witnesses and tendered several exhibits to prove the case.
The convicts were found guilty on all 12-count-charge 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 Alonge got exposed via a petition to the commission from Sterling Bank, alleging that one of its staff named Ebenezer Adeolu Alonge, was involved in fraudulent activities.
The bank said sometime in February 2018, it 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 investigation, the said transaction was allegedly traced to the account of Alonge’s wife. Further investigation, however, revealed that there was a turnover of over N21, 000,000.00 as 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.
