A Lagos investment firm employee was arraigned for allegedly diverting N90m and laundering funds through relatives, says Police Special Fraud Unit

An employee of an investment company in Lagos State, Bello Samuel, has been arraigned for allegedly diverting about N90 million from the firm’s account for personal use.

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Samuel was brought before the Federal High Court in Lagos by the Police Special Fraud Unit on charges bordering on conspiracy and money laundering.

In a statement on Tuesday, the PSFU spokesperson, Ovie Ewhubare, said the suspect, who worked in the company’s finance department, allegedly executed the fraud through an insider scheme.

According to Ewhubare, Samuel was accused of fraudulently converting company funds for personal use after a formal complaint by the firm prompted an investigation.

“Following a formal complaint by the affected company, operatives of the unit immediately commenced investigation into the matter,” the statement said.

The PSFU added that upon realising the fraud had been uncovered, Samuel allegedly fled Lagos with members of his family to an unknown destination and cut off communication in an attempt to evade arrest.

Investigations were subsequently extended across several South-West states before the suspect was apprehended in Oye-Ekiti Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

“Further investigation revealed that the suspect habitually laundered the proceeds of the fraud through the bank accounts of friends and relatives to conceal the source of the funds,” Ewhubare said.

He added that investigations were ongoing to track down other persons allegedly connected to the crime.

The Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Kayode Ojapinwa, reaffirmed the unit’s commitment to tackling financial crimes and advised corporate organisations to strengthen internal control mechanisms to curb insider abuses.

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In a related development reported in January, Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, convicted and sentenced a 64-year-old former Lagos State education director, Olawale Feliti, to two years and five months’ imprisonment for stealing N48,992,271.73 from Access Bank Plc following an EFCC prosecution.