Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, January 5, 2026, convicted and sentenced one Olawale Solomon Faleti, a former employee of the Lagos State Ministry of Education, to two years and five months imprisonment for N48,992,271.73 ( Forty Eight Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety Two Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy One Naira, Seventy Three kobo) theft.
Investigation revealed that Faleti, who maintained several accounts with one of the new generation banks , applied for a personal loan facility in the sum of N1,100,000.00 (One Million, One Hundred Thousand Naira), which was granted by the bank to enable him meet his “urgent financial needs.”
Faleti, investigation also revealed, had subsequently applied for and obtained a credit card facility, with a withdrawal limit of N43,000.00
(Forty-Three Thousand Naira only) operated under his account number 0819670166 domiciled at the Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos branch of the bank.
It was further revealed that Faleti’s credit card limit was enhanced from N43,000.00 (Forty-Three Thousand Naira Only) to N54,900,000.00 (Fifty-Four Million Nine Hundred Thousand Naira) due to a system glitch experienced by the bank in March, 2020 during the lockdown period occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.
In view of this, Faleti rapidly made withdrawals above the agreed credit card facility limit.
Further investigation also showed that the convict, between March, 2020 and July, 2020, made cash withdrawals ranging from N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to N5,000,000.00 (Five Million Naira) almost on a daily basis to the tune of N50,939,966.00 (Fifty Million, Nine Hundred and Thirty-Nine Thousand, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Six Naira)
Upon completion of investigations, the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, first arraigned the convict on a one-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N48, 992, 271.73.
The prosecution subsequently filed a five-count amended charge against the defendant.
