Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday October 27 2026, convicted and sentenced one Christopher Jackson Edeh, a former employee of Fidelity Bank Plc to 39 years , on nine counts of fraudulent false accounting and unauthorised access to a computer system.
The case was prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Edeh was first arraigned on 28 February 2024. He faced seven counts of fraudulent false accounting (contrary to Section 337 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State) and two counts of unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to facilitate the commission of crimes (Section 387 of the same law). He pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution alleged that in September 2023, while employed at Fidelity Bank, Edeh altered the account details of multiple high-value customers and government-linked entities with intent to defraud.
Affected accounts and entities named in the charges and reports include:
*Dangote Cement Plc
*Kano State Government Power *Intervention Fund
*NNPC Trading Limited
*Stallion Vision Ltd
*Lagos State Government Blue Line project
*State Contributory Pension Account
*Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University
One specific count alleged that he secured unauthorised access to Fidelity Bank’s Entrust portal with the intent to facilitate the theft of approximately ₦2,737,784,800 (roughly ₦2.74 billion) held in the bank’s custody.
During the trial, prosecuting counsel, Z.B. Atiku called three witnesses and tendered several documents in evidence to establish the case against the defendant. The defence, on its part, called one witness.
In her judgment, Justice Abike-Fadipe held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and consequently convicted Edeh on the nine counts.
The court sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment without an option of fine on each of counts one to seven, bordering on fraudulent false accounting, and two years’ imprisonment without an option of fine on each of counts eight and nine, relating to unauthorised access to a computer system with intent to facilitate the commission of crimes.
The court ordered that all the sentences run concurrently.