Two employees of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited have been charged with fraud involving $306,667.81 and €50,250 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC. This was revealed in a statement that was published on the Commission's official website. 

According to the statement, the defendants, James Olukayode Imokwede and Bakare Oladimeji Surajudeen, were taken before Judge Ismaila Ijelu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. 

The defendants were charged with ten counts of allegedly stealing and retaining property that belonged to FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, according to the EFCC.

The anti-graft agency stated that, “the petitioner, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, alleged that an internal audit uncovered unauthorized debits totaling $306,667.81 and €50,250, equivalent to N527,406,916.66 five hundred and twenty-seven Million, four hundred and six thousand, nine hundred and sixteen naira, sixty six kobo.”

According to the Commission, investigations revealed that the transfers were purportedly sent to third parties via the SWIFT platform. 

The defendants "dishonestly took the sum of N527,406,916.66, property of FSDH Merchant Bank Limited," according to one of the indictments stated in court. 

After the defendants entered a not guilty plea to all of the accusations, H. U. Kofarnaisa, the prosecution's attorney, sought the court for a trial date and asked that the defendants be placed under remand in a correctional facility while they awaited trial.

Source