“Workstation Was Used By Multiple Staff” — Fidelity Bank Staff Denies Accessing Customer’s Account To Withdraw ₦1m

The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has adjourned the trial of a Fidelity Bank staff member, Nweke Chukwuebuka, to allow the prosecution and the bank produce key documents and video evidence requested by the defence, in an alleged unauthorised account access case.

The trial Judge, Justice Ismail Ijelu, granted the adjournment after the Defendant formally opened his defence, denying involvement in the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of N1 million from a customer’s account and insisting he was wrongly implicated in the incident.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had earlier charged Nweke in Charge No. ID/26820C/2025 for alleged unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to commit further offences, contrary to Section 386(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

According to the amended charge, the Defendant was alleged to have accessed a workstation assigned to another staff member on June 21, 2025, thereby facilitating the withdrawal of N1 million from the account of a customer identified as Leelee Dumbari, domiciled with Fidelity Bank.

Testifying in his defence, Nweke told the court that the workstation in question was not restricted to a single staff member, and could be used by multiple personnel on night duty depending on operational demands, especially when handling customer complaints.

He further claimed that he only attempted to resolve network issues on the system and later escalated a reported debit alert to his supervisor, adding that, he was surprised when he was later accused by the Bank’s internal investigation unit and subsequently invited by the EFCC.

Following arguments by defence Counsel, Ejiofor, the court ordered the EFCC and Fidelity Bank to produce desktop records and CCTV footage of the Defendant’s statement-taking session, and adjourned the matter to May 14 for continuation of trial.