The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has sentenced an ex-convict, Oluokun Gabriel Adekola, to three years’ imprisonment for stealing N12m.
Justice Rahman Oshodi delivered the verdict on Tuesday after finding the defendant guilty of the offence.
Adekola was arraigned on March 16, 2026, by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ikoyi, on a one-count amended charge bordering on stealing.
The prosecution told the court that the convict, alongside accomplices still at large, conspired in 2025 to conceal the origin of N12m paid into his bank account.
According to the anti-graft agency, the money formed part of over N3.09bn fraudulently obtained from accounts domiciled with First City Monument Bank through unauthorised access and mobile banking fraud, after which the funds were withdrawn and converted to cash via Point of Sale operators.
The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.
Further proceedings revealed that Adekola had previously been convicted for a similar offence.
On July 23, 2020, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment for defrauding a Taiwanese national of $22,300.
During sentencing in the current case, prosecution counsel, E. S. Okongwu, tendered a Certified True Copy of the earlier judgment as evidence and urged the court to order restitution of N3.5m to the nominal complainant.
In his plea for leniency, defence counsel, Fabian Nwaforji, told the court that the convict was remorseful and had already spent four years and six months in custody, urging the court to temper justice with mercy.
In his ruling, Justice Oshodi described the offence as akin to money laundering and noted that the convict was a repeat offender.
He, however, took into account the defendant’s guilty plea and willingness to make restitution.
The court subsequently sentenced Adekola to three years in prison and ordered him to refund N3.5m to First City Monument Bank within three months.