A banker, Ayomide Lamidi, is facing prosecution for stealing N11.6m from his employer, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Microfinance.
The defendant was a loan officer in the Microfinance Bank, which offers financial services to underbanked Nigerians, small businesses, and low-income individuals.
The 29-year-old was on Thursday arraigned before the Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.
At the proceedings, the prosecutor, Inspector Sunday Bassey told the court that the defendant committed the crime at the bank branch on Ikorodu Road in Ketu between January and July of 2025.
According to Bassey, an internal audit found that the defendant had taken deposits and loan repayments from clients for personal use rather than depositing them into the bank’s account. He said that after learning of the fraud, the branch manager, Yetunde Ogundare, and the bank’s auditor, Mr. Adesola Adebowale, reported the incident to the police.
The defendant confessed to the act while being questioned, the prosecutor continued.
According to him, the offence was against Section 287(7) of the Lagos State 2015 Criminal Law.
In conclusion, the defendant was given N700,000 in bail by the magistrate, Mrs. O.A. Daodu, along with two sureties in an equivalent amount while the case was postponed for a follow-up hearing until October 7, 2025.
