EFCC Arraigns Former Access Bank Operations Head for Alleged $510,000 Fraud in Enugu

The Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, November 13, 2025, arraigned Obinna Nwaobi, a former Head of Operations at Access Bank Nigeria Plc, before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Independence Layout, Enugu.

Nwaobi was arraigned on a nine-count charge bordering on forgery and the alleged fraudulent diversion of $510,000 belonging to a customer of the bank.

One of the charges (Count 7) alleges that Nwaobi, while serving as Head of Operations at the Enugu branch on August 8, 2024, induced Access Bank to transfer $510,000 from the account of Lantern Gate Nigeria Limited under the false claim that the company had given approval for the transaction—an act said to contravene Section 1(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act, 2006.

Another charge (Count 8) accuses him of knowingly forging an Access Bank Domestic Fund Transfer Form “D”, dated August 28, 2024, with the intent to present it as genuine, thereby violating Section 1(2)(a) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 2004.

Nwaobi pleaded “not guilty” to all charges when read in court.

His counsel, F. C. Obinna, informed the court of a bail application filed on October 24, 2025, supported by an eight-paragraph affidavit, and urged the court to grant bail. However, EFCC counsel, ACE II Mainforce Adaka Ekwu, strongly opposed the request, citing an 11-paragraph counter affidavit filed on November 12, 2025. He argued that the weight of evidence against the defendant could motivate him to abscond.

After hearing both sides, the court granted Nwaobi bail in the sum of N250 million with three sureties in like sum. Two of the sureties must own landed property in Enugu State, and the title documents are to be submitted to the court.

The third surety must be a relative of the defendant and provide three years’ tax clearance. The defendant and his sureties are to submit two passport photographs each, while Nwaobi must surrender his international passport and National Identification Number pending the determination of the case.

Justice Giwa-Ogunbanjo adjourned the matter to March 10, 11, and 12, 2026 for trial. Nwaobi was remanded at the Enugu facility of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The case originated from a petition Access Bank Plc submitted to the EFCC on September 11, 2024, alerting the agency to unauthorized transfers from a customer's account. According to the bank, the sum of $510,000 belonging to Lantern Gate Nigeria Limited was transferred to six different accounts on Nwaobi’s authorization without customer approval.