How Staff Of First Bank, Hackers Planned To Steal N20B From Customers

The trial of three former employees of the First Bank of Nigeria who are charged with trying to commit fraud has begun in Ikeja, Lagos State.

Ozioma Ugorji, 35, Ugwu Emeka, 32, and Obike Chukuka, 38, were accused of trying to steal N20bn from the bank. They were charged by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission.

The defendants worked together to hack into the bank’s server so that a syndicate could use it.

They were, however, caught by the EFCC on March 6, 2021, after a report from a spy agency.

Adamu Dahiru, a prosecution witness, told the court during cross-examination by one of the defense lawyers, Uchenna Ozoagbo, that one of the defendants was caught when he connected a laptop he got from the syndicate to the bank’s server.

He said,

“They worked together to help a crook steal over N20bn from the bank. We heard that the money was in the cloud and that they had to get it out.

“The second accused person, Emeka, met with the gang at a hotel.

“When the first defendant, Ugorji, was caught, he said that the third defendant, Chukwuka, had brought him into the gang and that they had talked to someone from the headquarters.

“The second defendant said that he was given a laptop after being told several times to connect it to the bank’s system.

“When he was on duty, he connected the laptop to the banking system. During the connection, the I.P. of the laptop was picked up, and the system was destroyed.”

The judge, S.O. Solebo, put the case off until October 5, 2022, so that the trial can continue.