Hacker breaches Moniepoint vault, steals ₦1.1bn
A 43-year-old man, Sunday Ozimede, who allegedly hacked Moniepoint Microfinance Bank’s vault and stole the sum of ₦1,190,728,076 billion from the bank, was on Monday arraigned by the police before the Federal High Court in Lagos State.
The defendant is facing three counts of conspiracy, hacking, and obtaining by false pretence, preferred against him by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU).
The PSFU’s Prosecution Counsel, Justine Enang, told the court that the defendant allegedly hacked the microfinance bank and obtained the sum of ₦945,728,076 million by false pretence.
Enang told the court that the defendant caused financial loss to Moniepoint Microfinance Bank to the tune of ₦145 million by planting a bug in the bank’s data system.
He said Ozimede and others, now at large, conspired amongst themselves to commit the alleged offences sometime in May 2024. The prosecutor told the court that Ozimede fraudulently diverted the above-mentioned money from various Moniepoint Microfinance Bank customers’ deposited funds through numerous transactions to other banks.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 27 (i)(b), 14 of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 as amended in 2024, and Section 14 (1) of the same Act, as well as Sections 18(2)(b) & (d), punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Following his not-guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to remand him in a correctional centre pending the conclusion of the trial and asked for a trial date.
The defendant’s lawyer, Abdulmalik Ibrahim, in a motion for bail, pleaded with the court to admit his client to bail on the most liberal terms.
But the prosecutor opposed the bail application, accusing the defendant of being a ‘flight risk,’ stating that he might not turn up for his trial if granted bail.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, after hearing the parties’ submissions, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of ₦50 million, with one surety in like sum.
The judge also ordered that the surety must be a landed property owner within the jurisdiction of the court.
He added that the bail terms must be verified by the court’s registrar and the prosecutor.
The case was adjourned to March 13, 2025, for trial.
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