Officers of the Lagos State Police Command have arraigned five fraudsters before the Federal High Court in Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, January 17 for hack
Officers of the Lagos State Police Command have arraigned five fraudsters before the Federal High Court in Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, January 17 for hacking into Sterling Bank Plc’s banking platform and Bance Application and stealing N1,257,536,572.50.
The suspects who are identified as Victor Ogochukwu, Favour Odey, Adekunle Daniel, Akachukwu Alagbogu and Oguntade Yetunde were brought before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos by officers from the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos.
They were charged with conspiracy, hacking and unlawful possession and conversion of funds.
The police prosecutor, Justine Enang, informed the court that the defendants, along with others currently on the run, conspired to commit the alleged crimes between Sunday, November 3 and Monday, November 4.
Enang further claimed that the defendants worked with both internal employees of Sterling Bank and external accomplices to breach sensitive data and security systems, using international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) numbers and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to execute 88 unauthorized transactions.
The prosecutor argued that the actions of the defendants violated Sections 27(1)(b) and 14(1) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015, as amended in 2024, as well as Section 14(1) of the same Act.
Their actions also contravened Sections 18(2)(b) and (d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act of 2022.
Despite the charges, the defendants pleaded not guilty.
In response, their lawyers applied for bail, requesting the court grant them bail under the most lenient terms.
However, Enang opposed the bail applications, citing the seriousness of the offences and the risk of the defendants fleeing.
After considering the arguments, Justice Lewis-Allagoa granted bail to the defendants, setting the amount at N50 million each, with one surety for each defendant also in the same amount.
The surety must own a property within the court’s jurisdiction.
The case was adjourned until Thursday, March 13 for trial, and the judge ordered that the defendants be remanded in Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) custody until the bail conditions are fulfilled.
