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A former banker, Samuel Asiegbu, has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment without an option of fine for his role in an ₦8.56 billion fraud involving one of Nigeria’s first-generation banks.
According to the EFCC website on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, Asiegbu was arraigned alongside several other defendants on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, stealing, and unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to commit fraud, contrary to Sections 409 and 386 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The defendants were first arraigned before a Federal High Court, Lagos on June 23, 2025, and all initially pleaded not guilty.
However, Asiegbu later changed his plea to guilty, prompting Justice Rahman Oshodi to convict and sentence him.
“The court sentenced Asiegbu to 10 months and eight days’ imprisonment on count three and one year and eight months on count four, both without an option of fine.
“The sentences are to run concurrently. Consequently, the court struck out counts one and two,” the EFCC statement said.
The trial of the remaining defendants will continue, with the court adjourning the case to November 14, 2025, for further proceedings.
PUNCH Online had earlier, in May 2025, reported that EFCC arraigned three Lagos bankers — Samuel Ihechukwu Asiegbu, Fabian Onyeimachi, and Kingsley Ejim Kelechi — alongside four accomplices before the Federal High Court, Lagos, over their alleged involvement in an N8.5 billion fraud scheme.
According to EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, the accused “manipulated a bank’s internal systems and altered critical banking data in January 2025, causing a financial loss totalling N8,568,090,500,” and allegedly conspired with others still at large “to carry out the fraudulent transactions, which were designed to confer economic benefits on themselves.”
