Exposed: How Access Bank, syndicate defrauded customer N20m–Lawyer
Maureen Aguta
Human Rights lawyer, Maxwell Okpora, has revealed what he described a new dimension of fraud in the country using a syndicate involving bank officials, police and judicial officers.
Barrister Okpora who disclosed this in a press conference in Abuja, noted that at the last count over four people have been defrauded of over N200 million by the syndicate involving bank, police and judiciary.
This came as Okpora has said that Access Bank branch in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory operating in the pattern of this new syndicate, defrauded his client, a customer of the bank, one Mr. Godwin Emmanuel of N20 million.
According to him, Mr. Emmanuel operates a corporate account with the Mararaba branch of Access Bank, FCT, Abuja.
The human rights lawyer explained that it happened that his client suddenly discovered that he could no be able to access his account with the bank; he contacted his Account Officer who explained to him that the bank has barred him from operating the account. The customer approached the lawyer who was approached the bank to explain why the customer was barred from operating his account and they said that they were acting in compliance to a Court Order.
“We approached the court and was able to get a Court Order vacated, allowing my client to continue operating the account, but Access Bank refused to comply with the Court Order for several days. However, when the bank finally complied, it had removed N20 million from the account.
“When we carefully reviewed the Court Order the bank said that it relied on to place the PAD on the client’s account, we discovered that the account used to place the order was not the account of my client.
We got an order of the court to remove the order, they refused but when finally the removed the order they moved out N20 million from the account.
“We have written to all and sundry to find out who are the beneficiaries of the N20 million which was removed from my client’s account.
“We have deemed it necessary to make public this new trend of fraud going on that involves bank officials, police and judiciary to defraud depositors of their hard eared monies,” he said.
Barrister Okpora further disclosed that case of his client may not be an isolated case as there are over four cases of people whom their money have been stolen from their accounts in similar manners.