ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-An Ikeja Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday handed down a two-year and five-month prison sentence to Olawale Faleti, a former Lagos State Director of Education, for misappropriating N48.9 million belonging to Access Bank Plc.
Justice Rahman Oshodi, who presided over the matter, found the 64-year-old guilty on five counts of stealing, following prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
In his ruling, Oshodi characterised Faleti’s conduct as ‘deliberate and sustained,’ stressing that the defendant repeatedly made withdrawals without any form of authorisation.
The judge further noted that Faleti failed to show genuine remorse or take full responsibility for his actions.
“Financial institutions are the backbone of our economy, and public trust in them must be safeguarded,” the judge said. “Anyone attempting to defraud banks must understand that severe penalties will ensue.”
While acknowledging that Faleti was a first-time offender, the court held that imprisonment was inevitable.
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Oshodi applied a 20 per cent reduction to the maximum statutory sentence of three years, citing the partial refund made by the convict.
Faleti was sentenced to two years and five months’ imprisonment on each of the five counts, with the terms to run concurrently.
The sentence is to take effect from January 5, 2026, and the court ordered that Faleti’s biometric information and personal details be entered into the Lagos State Judiciary offenders’ database.
The court also directed Faleti to refund the remaining N45.9 million to Access Bank Plc, after deducting the N3 million already repaid, and instructed the bank to inform the court once full restitution is completed.
Earlier in the trial, EFCC prosecutor Ahmed Dambuwa told the court that Faleti abused unauthorised access to an Access Bank credit card to fraudulently convert the funds.
Although the card permitted withdrawals of at least N43,000 per transaction, a system malfunction during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 allegedly allowed Faleti to withdraw about N48 million.
The charges detailed the unlawful conversion of N12.6 million between July 2 and July 10, 2020, as well as N6.9 million between May 22 and July 1, 2020, all funds belonging to Access Bank Plc.
The offences were ruled to be in breach of Section 287(1)(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.