Ex-Access Bank Staff Arraigned Over Alleged N294.5m Fraud, Remanded in Ikoyi Prison

A former Access Bank employee, Chinonso Akujobi, has been arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before a Lagos State High Court over the alleged theft of N294.5 million. She pleaded not guilty to a five-count charge, while the court ordered her remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre and fixed October 8, 2026, for the hearing of her bail application and commencement of trial.

A former employee of Access Bank Plc is facing prosecution after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused her of allegedly diverting nearly N300 million from the bank while still in its employment. The case, which is now before the Lagos State High Court, has drawn attention to the growing crackdown on financial crimes within Nigeria’s banking sector.

Ex-Access Bank Staff Arraigned Over Alleged N294.5m Fraud, Remanded in Ikoyi Prison
A former employee of Access Bank Plc, Chinonso Akujobi, has been arraigned before the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja over the alleged theft of N294.5 million while in the bank’s employment.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday brought Akujobi before Justice I.O. Ijelu on a five-count charge bordering on the alleged theft and unlawful conversion of bank funds.

According to the EFCC, the defendant allegedly stole and converted N294.5 million through unauthorised transactions carried out while she worked for Access Bank.

One of the charges reads:

“That you, Chinonso Akujobi, sometime between January and December 2025, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with dishonest intent, and while under the employment of Access Bank Plc, stole and converted for your own use, by unauthorised payments from the general ledger of the bank into your Access Bank account number 0036668871, bearing the names Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A., the sum of N109,325,566.86 (One Hundred and Nine Million, Three Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixty-six Naira, Eighty-six Kobo), thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”

When the charges were read, Akujobi pleaded “not guilty.”

Following her plea, the prosecution counsel, S. M. Yabo, asked the court to fix a trial date and requested that the defendant be remanded in a correctional facility pending the determination of her bail application.

Justice Ijelu subsequently adjourned the case until October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.
The court also ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.