Accountant In SFU Net Over N2.8m Fraud

A company accountant and finance director, Mr. Ambaliu Adebayo Adesina, has been arrested for allegedly defrauding his employer, Loyalty Solutions Nigeria Limited, 2nd Floor, Elephant House, 214 Broad Street, Lagos.

The 41-year-old father of two, before his arrest last week, was a resident of 287, Olusola Street, Lagos. Adesina was employed by Loyalty Solutions Nigeria Limited in May 2008 as the company’s accountant and finance director on a monthly salary of N99,000 including other emoluments.

According to a source at the Special Fraud Unit, “on 11 July, at about 15:00 hours (3:00 p.m.), we received a petition from the Chief Inspector of a second generation bank. The petition, directed to the commissioner, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, stated that Mr. Ambaliu Adebayo Adesina deposited €15,000 into the account of Loyalty Solutions Nigeria Limited domiciled at the Marina branch of the bank

“But during the process of receiving the cash, it was discovered that the €15,000 were all in fake currency notes,” the source said.

The petition stated further that, “the attention of the customer was immediately drawn to this and he explained that the sum of N2,827,500 (two million, eight hundred and twenty seven thousand, five hundred naira only) was exchanged for the foreign currencies through Mallam Ahmed at a local bureau de change.”

Adesina was promptly apprehended and taken to the Milverton office of the SFU where he made a confessional statement. Investigations revealed that the Managing Director (names withheld) of Loyalty Solutions Nigeria Limited gave €15,000 in brand new notes to Adebayo for exchange at a bureau de change with which the company usually does business. Adesina was expected to deposit the naira equivalent, after conversion, with the company’s domiciliary account in Skye Bank along Marina.

Investigations revealed that Adesina rushed to the bank, showed the cashier the genuine Euro notes and while she was not paying attention, he cleverly presented the fake Euro notes and sped back to the office. He was, however, arrested inside the bank when he was invited to come back for the verification of the fake Euro which he cleverly deposited with the cashier.

Speaking with Mid-Week-CrimeWatch, Adesina confirmed that he actually tried to play a fast one. “I struck a deal with another Bureau De Change because he promised me N30,000 commission. “I didn’t know that he had cleverly given me the fake Euro notes.” The SFU told Mid-Week-CrimeWatch that Adesina will be arraigned in court on  charges of counterfeit currency and conspiracy. He is still being detained at the SFU.