An employee of an investment company in Lagos State, Bello Samuel (also referred to as Bello Saheed Samuel in some reports), has been arraigned for allegedly diverting about N90 million from the firm’s account for personal use.

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

In a statement on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the PSFU, Mr Ovie Ewhubare, said the suspect, who worked in the finance department of the company, allegedly carried out the fraud through an insider scheme.

According to Ewhubare, the suspect was accused of fraudulently converting company funds for personal use.

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

Ewhubare disclosed that upon realising the fraud had been uncovered, Samuel allegedly absconded from Lagos with members of his family to an unknown destination, cutting off all means of communication in an attempt to evade arrest.

The statement added that investigations were extended to several states in the South-West before the suspect was eventually 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 while the suspect has been charged to court, investigations were ongoing to arrest other persons allegedly involved in the crime.

The statement also quoted the Commissioner of Police, Police Special Fraud Unit, Lagos, Mr Kayode Ojapinwa, as reaffirming the unit’s commitment to combating financial crimes.

Ojapinwa advised corporate organisations to strengthen internal control mechanisms, particularly in monitoring employees, to curb insider-related abuses.

The PUNCH had reported in January that Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, had 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.

Feliti was jailed after being found guilty of a five-count charge of theft filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.