RismadarVoice Reporters
March 3, 2026
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ikoyi, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026, arraigned two officials of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited over an alleged fraud involving $306,667.81 and €50,250.
The defendants, Bakare Oladimeji Surajudeen and James Olukayode Imokwede, were docked before Justice Ismaila Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on a 10-count charge bordering on alleged stealing and retention of stolen property.
According to the EFCC, the case followed a petition by FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, which alleged that an internal audit uncovered unauthorized debits totaling $306,667.81 and €50,250 equivalent to N527,406,916.66 from its Letters of Credit payable accounts.
Investigations reportedly revealed that the defendants processed the alleged fraudulent transfers through the SWIFT platform to third parties.
One of the charges alleges that the defendants, sometime in 2021 in Lagos, dishonestly took the sum of N527,406,916.66, property of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited. Another count accuses them of dishonestly taking $306,667.81 belonging to the bank.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Following their pleas, prosecution counsel, H. U. Kofarnaisa, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending trial.
Counsel to the first and second defendants, Oluwaseun Akintunde and Olajide S. Onasanya, informed the court that bail applications had been filed and prayed the court to grant bail on liberal terms.
They also requested that the defendants be remanded in EFCC custody pending the perfection of their bail conditions.
The prosecution opposed the request for EFCC custody, stating that the Commission’s detention facilities were overstretched.
In his ruling, Justice Ijelu granted the defendants bail in the sum of N2 million each, with two sureties in like sum.
The court ordered that one of the sureties must be a gainfully employed relative.
The sureties are to provide evidence of tax payments for the last three years, proof of livelihood, and verified residential addresses.
The court also directed the defendants to deposit their international passports and barred them from travelling outside the country without prior approval.
The defendants were subsequently remanded in a correctional facility pending the perfection of their bail conditions.
The matter was adjourned to March 25, 2026, for commencement of trial.
