Justice Ismail Ijelu of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has adjourned the trial of a Fidelity Bank staff member, Nweke Chukwuebuka, to enable the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and Fidelity Bank produce documents and video evidence requested by the defence in a case involving alleged unauthorised access to a customer’s account.
The adjournment followed the opening of the defence by the defendant, who denied involvement in the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of one million naira from a customer’s account and claimed he was being wrongly implicated.
The EFCC had charged Nweke before the court in Charge No. ID/26820C/2025 for alleged unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate further offences, contrary to Section 386(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
According to the amended information before the court, the defendant allegedly accessed a desktop computer assigned to another staff member, Emmanuella Anyanwu, on June 21, 2025, thereby facilitating the unauthorised withdrawal of N1 million from the account of one Leelee Dumbari domiciled with Fidelity Bank.
At the resumed hearing, EFCC counsel, Adewale Bashir, appeared for the prosecution, while Ejiofor represented the defendant.
While opening his defence, Nweke told the court that the workstation allegedly linked to the transaction was not exclusive to one staff member, adding that multiple staff on night shift could use available systems depending on customer calls assigned to them.
He explained that on the day of the incident, he noticed network issues on the system he was using and attempted to reconnect so he could continue attending to customer complaints.
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The defendant said he later received a call from the nominal complainant, who complained about a debit alert on her account.
According to him, he asked the customer questions to determine the source of the transaction and discovered she had earlier lost her phone and subsequently visited the bank to request a change of phone number linked to the account.
He alleged that although the customer claimed the number had been changed, the bank’s internal system still reflected the old phone number, thereby allowing continued access to the account’s online banking platform.
Nweke told the court that he escalated the matter to his supervisor for authorisation to block the account and claimed another attempted withdrawal of N500,000 was successfully stopped during the process.
He further stated that he later assisted a colleague to sign out from a system when she briefly stepped away from her workstation, insisting he did not use the system for any fraudulent transaction.
The defendant said he was shocked when he was subsequently invited by the bank’s investigation unit and accused of involvement in the one million naira withdrawal.
He also linked the allegation to another disputed transaction involving N23 million allegedly meant for solar panel payments, maintaining that he had no connection with either transaction.
Nweke alleged before the court that he was pressured during internal investigations to facilitate repayment of the disputed funds to stop the case from escalating.
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He further claimed that after the matter was reported to the EFCC, his phone and airport were seized, and he was compelled to make statements without access to legal representation or family members.
The defendant also alleged that his family eventually sold part of his mother’s land to raise money which investigators allegedly suggested could be paid to the complainant to secure his release.
He maintained throughout his testimony that he did not benefit from the disputed funds and had been falsely implicated.
Following the testimony, defence counsel, Ejiofor, urged the court to order the EFCC and Fidelity Bank to produce the conversation desktop records used at the bank as well as CCTV footage of the defendant while giving statement in EFCC custody.
Counsel argued that the materials were necessary to establish the circumstances surrounding the investigation and prove the defendant’s innocence.
Justice Ijelu subsequently granted the request and adjourned proceedings to allow the prosecution and the bank produces the requested records and video evidence.
The matter was subsequently adjourned till May 14 for continuation of trial
