EFCC arraigns man over alleged N700 million fraud

Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, has ordered the remand of Osaretin Osagiede, arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over an alleged N700 million fraud.

The EFCC said the suspect allegedly received funds stolen from Best Start Micro Finance Bank, adding that he faces a three-count charge bordering on unauthorised access to computer material and receiving stolen property.

The first count reads, “That you Osaretin Osagiede and Zacharia Lorshe (at large), between March, 2025 and January 2026, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, intentionally caused the Ravenpay user accounts’ two-factor authentication (2FA) method to be bypassed, with the intent to secure unauthorised access to the bank’s data and committed an offence contrary to Section 387 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.”

Another counts reads, “That you Osaretin Osagiede and Zacharia Lorshe (at large), between March 2025 and January 2026 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly received the stolen sum of N700,000,000.00 (Seven Hundred Million Naira), property of Best Start Micro Finance Bank, whilst having reason to believe the same to be stolen property and committed an offence contrary to Section 411 and 328(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.”

The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charge.

Prosecution counsel, H.U. Kofarnaisa, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending the hearing of his bail application.

Justice Ogunjobi adjourned the matter to September 16, 2026, for hearing of the bail application and ordered that Mr Osagiede be remanded.