THE Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police, Ikoyi, Lagos, has arrested a banker attached to one of the first generation banks in Lagos for allegedly stealing a total of N42 million from the accounts of the bank’s customers.

The suspect, Olaiya Olusegun, was also discovered to have been stealing money from deceased customers’ accounts.

He allegedly stole over N2 million from a dead customer’s account.

Olusegun is said to be the Accounts Officer of the victim, from whose account he stole a whopping N33 million.

He was found out and arrested after the victim went to cash money and discovered that his account was empty.

The Commissioner of Police, SFU, Mr. Chinwike Asadu, explained that investigations revealed that Olusegun was not only an Accounts Officer to the victim, he was also the victim’s tenant.

Asadu said: “The suspect usually forges the signature of the victim on cheques and cashes same without the consent of the victim. He also applied for a cheque booklet in the customer’s name, using it to make withdrawal without the victim’s knowledge.”

Trouble was said to have started for Olusegun when his victim, who at that time had over N30 million in his account, sent someone to cash a cheque of N500,000 from his account.

The account was discovered to be empty.

Asadu: “It was also discovered that when the customer gave him genuine cheques to cash, he made some alteration on them, increasing the figures and pocketing the balance.

“During investigation, it was also discovered that the suspect tampered with another account belonging to one Adekunle, a deceased customer of the bank. He applied for and collected a cheque booklet of the deceased customer four months after his death.

“He then forged the man’s signature and withdrew N2.175 million. He also converted the sum of N7 million meant to open a fixed deposit account by a widow in her name to his own use.”

Asadu advised bank customers to always monitor their accounts officers to avoid being swindled.

“Customers should request for SMS alerts on their accounts, as this will enable them know whenever a fraudulent transaction is made on their accounts,” added Asadu.