Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of an Ikeja High Court yesterday sentenced a former Access Bank staff, Olawale Garuba 35, to 39 years imprisonment for stealing from a dead customer.
He and five others, (Festus Onile. Jayeola Afolabi David, Abiodun Afainiya, Yewande Adeyemi and Adetoun Kammal) were dragged before the court in July last year, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following a petition from the bank, alleging fraudulent transfers and withdrawals of N31 million through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Point of Sale (POS), from the dead customer’s account.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty, to the offence punishable under Section 285 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
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.
In her judgment, Justice Ipaye said despite showing remorse, she has no mercy for the convict.
She held that the convict compromised his position as a banker to steal from a deceased customer whose family was deprived the money she left behind, and found Garuba guilty on all the 13 counts.
He was sentenced to three years imprisonment on each count and will spend three years in prison as the sentence will run concurrently from the date of his first detention – July 24, last year.
