A Lagos court has sentenced former banker Christopher Jackson Edeh to five years in prison for his role in a ₦2.7 billion ($1.8 million) fraud involving the unauthorised alteration of bank account details belonging to customers and public institutions.
Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja convicted Edeh on nine counts of fraudulent false accounting and unauthorised access to a computer system, according to a statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday.
The court sentenced him to five years in prison without the option of a fine on each of the first seven counts, which involved fraudulent false accounting. It imposed two-year prison terms without the option of a fine on each of the remaining two counts, relating to unauthorised access to a computer system to facilitate criminal activity.
The judge ordered that all sentences run concurrently, meaning Edeh will serve five years rather than the cumulative 39 years imposed across the nine counts.
Edeh was arraigned on February 28, 2024, over allegations that he altered account details belonging to several customers and government-related entities to facilitate fraudulent transactions.
The affected accounts included those of the Kano State Government Power Intervention Fund, NNPC Trading Limited, Stallion Vision Ltd., the Lagos State Government’s Blue Line rail project, the State Contributory Pension Account and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.
Earlier reports on the case linked Edeh to alleged unauthorised access to Fidelity Bank’s Entrust portal. Dangote Cement Plc was also identified among the entities affected by the transactions.
During the trial, prosecution lawyer Z.B. Atiku called three witnesses and presented documentary evidence. The defence called one witness.
In her judgment, Abike-Fadipe ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt before convicting Edeh on all nine counts.
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