The Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced a former inmate, Oluokun Gabriel Adekola, to three years’ imprisonment over the theft of N12m.
Justice Rahman Oshodi handed down the sentence on Tuesday after the defendant admitted to the charge and was found guilty.
Adekola was brought before the court by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ikoyi, on March 16, 2026, on an amended one-count charge related to stealing.
The EFCC told the court that the convict, in collaboration with accomplices who are still at large, orchestrated the concealment of N12m traced to his account in 2025.
The commission explained that the sum was part of over N3.09bn illicitly obtained from customer accounts domiciled in First City Monument Bank through unauthorised access and mobile banking fraud.
The funds were later withdrawn and converted into cash through Point of Sale transactions.
Adekola pleaded guilty during his arraignment.
The court proceedings also revealed his prior conviction.
He had earlier been sentenced on July 23, 2020, by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, to 20 years in prison for defrauding a Taiwanese national of $22,300.
At the sentencing stage, prosecuting counsel, E. S. Okongwu, presented a Certified True Copy of the previous judgment as evidence and urged the court to order restitution of N3.5m to the complainant.
Defence counsel, Fabian Nwaforji, appealed for leniency, informing the court that the convict had shown remorse and had already spent about four years and six months in custody.
In his decision, Justice Oshodi described the offence as related to financial crimes similar to money laundering and noted that the defendant was a repeat offender.
He, however, considered his guilty plea and readiness to make restitution.
The court subsequently sentenced Adekola to three years’ imprisonment and directed him to repay N3.5m to First City Monument Bank within three months.
