Judge Yellim Bogoro, of the Federal Superior Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, sentenced Solomon Stephen Ufayo, a member of the Ecobank Nigeria PLC staff, to one year in prison for cybercrime that involves the sum of N2,404,000.
Ufayo was prosecuted on May 16, 2025 by the Zonal Directorate of Lagos 2 of the Commission of Economic and Financial Crimes, EFCC, for a position of a counting related to the cyber crime.
The position claimed that between March 10 and 28, 2025, while working as a relief cashier in Ecobank, OGUNFODUNRIN OMOWUNMI AJOKE was passed, at the beginning of false transactions of deposit and retirement in his account.
The position declared: “That you, the Solomon Stephen Ufayo, between the tenth and March 28, 2025, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, while working for Ecobank Nigeria Limited as a Relief A cashier, they were fraudulently represented as ogunfodunrin omowunmi ajoke, by means of the false deposit and the cashier of the cash. Of the fake cashiers and those removed from the Ecoban account.
The defendant declared himself “guilty” of the position when he was read.
The lawyer of the ABDULHAMID L. Tukur prosecution then presented to the EFCC operation David Ngale Gajere to review the facts.
Gajere told the Court that Ufayo used fraudulent means to prove the Ajoke account with false deposits and subsequently withdrew the total sum of N2,404,000 using counterfeiting slippers.
Then the money was transferred to his personal absence account without the client's consent.
According to the EFCC operation, Ufayo made a voluntary statement during the investigation and then issued a bank draft for an amount of N2,404,000 as restitution.
During the sentence, the convict requested mercy, citing financial difficulties due to his wife's pregnancy as a reason behind his actions.
He told court that he had learned from his mistakes.
After reviewing the presentations, Judge Bogoro sentenced Ufayo to a year in prison with the option of a fine of N500,000.
The Court ordered that it undertake two weeks of community service.