Fugitive Tijani Adeyinka
Tijani Adeyinka, a First Bank manager, in charge of electronic transfer reversals at the bank’s head office team in Iganmu, Lagos, has allegedly stolen N40 billion belonging to the bank’s customers, and is currently on the run, sources familiar with the development said.
It was gathered that the final decision on all the bank’s electronic transaction reversals laid with him alone, instead of a team.
However, instead of ensuring that the reversals were done properly, he started diverting funds to a Zenith account owned by his wife.
Over 2 years, he managed to steal N40 billion, which he later scattered to 1,190 accounts and used some to buy cryptocurrency.
He also allegedly diverted those funds to other 98 bank accounts classified as first beneficiaries, including his wife’s.
Mr Adeyinka and his wife vanished after the scam was burst when a customer insisted on resolving the non-reversal of his funds.
The bank, with a market capitalization of ₦829 billion, had reported the incident to the Nigerian Police Force on March 25, 2024, and obtained multiple court orders to freeze accounts connected to the stolen funds.
“The manager exploited his role to misappropriate funds by directing customer reversal requests to a merchant account under his control.
“His ability to finalize transactions without additional approvals allowed the scheme to go unnoticed.
“The fraud came to light following a customer complaint, prompting an internal review by the bank’s control unit, which uncovered numerous suspicious transactions.
“In response, First Bank alerted the police and pursued legal measures to mitigate the financial loss.
“First Bank took proactive steps by obtaining three court orders between April 4 and April 8, 2024, to freeze hundreds of accounts suspected of receiving the diverted funds.
“Among the affected accounts were 98 classified as first beneficiaries, including one belonging to Adeyinka’s wife, as well as numerous second-tier accounts,” an insider source said.
Court documents revealed that Adeyinka routed funds to his wife’s account at Zenith Bank, which then dispersed the money across 34 additional accounts.
These accounts subsequently channeled the funds to 1,190 other accounts, creating a complex network of transactions to obscure the origin of the stolen funds.
In a statement to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police dated May 10, 2024, the bank affirmed its collaboration with law enforcement agencies to uncover the circumstances surrounding the fraud and apprehend all individuals involved.
“We hereby bring to your notice the discovery of fraudulent transactions into various transactions within and outside the bank and request your good offices to set up the machinery of investigation in place with a view to unravel the circumstances surrounding the said fraud and get the culprits apprehending to face the wrath of the law,” read a letter dated May 10, 2024, from First bank to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police.
