Ex-Access Bank worker bags 39 years for stealing from dead customer---The Nation Newspaper

AN Ikeja High Court yesterday sentenced a former worker of Access Bank, Olawale Garuba 35, to 39 years imprisonment for stealing from a dead customer.

He will, however, spend three years in jail, as the sentence will run concurrently.

The convict was sentenced to three years in prison for each of the 13-count charge against him.

He and five others were charged before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye in July last year, with conspiracy and stealing.

The offence is punishable under Section 285 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

The other defendants are Festus Onile, Abiodun Afainiya, Jayeola Afolabi David, Yewande Adeyemi and Adetoun Kammal.

The defendants were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following a petition from the bank, alleging fraudulent transfers and withdrawals of N31million through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS), from the dead customer’s account.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

But on June 2, Garuba changed his plea to guilty at the resumed hearing.

Justice Ipaye instantly convicted him and adjourned till yesterday for sentencing.

The convict’s counsel, Olanrewaju Ajanaku, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy.

He said his client, who he described as a first offender, with a wife and two little children, was remorseful and has learnt a lesson.

But, the prosecutor, Abba Mohammed, urged the court to consider the three-way traffic of justice comprising the interests of the court, the victim and the convict.

In her judgment, Justice Ipaye said despite showing remorse, she has no sympathy for the convict.

She held that the convict compromised his position as a banker to steal from a deceased customer whose money would have been used by the family she left behind.

Justice Ipaye held that the convict allowed his greed to overcome him and risked losing the job that thousands of others were looking for.

She found the convict guilty on all the 13 counts and sentenced him to three years imprisonment on each count.

The convict will spend three years in prison as the sentence will run concurrently from the date of his first detention – July 24, last year.