The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Wednesday, concluded its case against Oluwole Olutimehin, who is being tried for allegedly diverting N13.29 million belonging to Sterling Bank Plc.

The trial is being held before Justice Rahman Oshodi at the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja. Olutimehin faces a single charge of fraudulent conversion of funds, as filed by the EFCC.

Initially arraigned on September 20, 2022, before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo, the case was reassigned to Justice Oshodi following Justice Taiwo’s retirement.

The EFCC alleged that on September 15, 2021, Olutimehin fraudulently converted N13.29 million from Sterling Bank Plc for personal use.

This act reportedly violated Section 280 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, which is punishable under Section 287.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the EFCC presented its second prosecution witness, Olaniyi Olaleye, an internal auditor at Sterling Bank.

Olaleye, led in testimony by EFCC counsel S.I. Suleiman, detailed the discovery of irregularities linked to the bank’s OneBank app—a platform used by customers for account management and online transactions.

“In September 2021, we noticed abnormalities in the app that facilitated unauthorized withdrawals totaling N13.29 million, involving multiple banks such as GTB, Wema, and Access Bank,” Olaleye testified.

Sterling Bank subsequently filed a petition to the EFCC, requesting a full investigation into the fraud.

Olaleye co-signed the petition and submitted key documents, including account statements linked to the suspicious transactions.

These were presented as Exhibits A and B during the hearing and identified as the petition and the defendant’s account details (Account No. 0085006574).

Explaining the app’s operation, Olaleye revealed that the OneBank app included a wallet account feature, enabling customers to transact up to a daily limit of N500,000.

However, the breach allowed transactions far exceeding this limit.The EFCC has now rested its case,awaiting further proceedings in the trial.