Details have emerged on how four senior officials of the Tony Elumelu-led United Bank for Africa, UBA, were arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing £138,924 (over N270 million) from international airlines’ accounts.
Kagos State Command Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, made the disclosure in a statement at midday on Monday at a press briefing in Lagos.
Though, initially, the police did not reveal the identity of the bank in question, inside sources disclosed to ENigeria News that the suspects were employees of UBA Plc led by Nigeria’s banking Wizkid, Tony Elumelu.
“The suspects conspired to siphon funds from domiciliary accounts into personal accounts before redistributing them to multiple destinations,” Hundeyin stated.
“The said fraud was uncovered when the bank detected unauthorized transactions and went ahead to alert the police.”
Providing details of the arrests, Hundeyin said, “Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of the following suspects: Shuaib Oluwatobiloba Olaleye, male, aged 27, was arrested on March 12, 2025, in Ogun State. A Toyota Camry 2012/2013, suspected to be the proceeds of the crime, was recovered from him.
“Oladunjoye Adegoke, male, aged 33, was arrested on March 13, 2025, in Victoria Island, Lagos.“A Toyota Camry (Pencil Light), suspected to be another proceed of the stolen funds, was also recovered.
“Further investigation led to the arrest of Austin Alfred, male, aged 38, the supervisor of the bank’s Trade Services Department, and Jude Uzobuaku, male, aged 36, a processor in the same department. Both facilitated the illegal transfer of funds to foreign accounts.”
ENigeria News further understood that police investigations revealed that the stolen funds were initially funneled into an account belonging to one of the suspects before being distributed to multiple other accounts to avoid detection.
Authorities are now working to identify additional accomplices and recover the remaining funds.
“The suspects are in custody and will face prosecution as the investigation continues,” CSP Ben Hundeyin stated.
Meanwhile, the police have urged the public to report suspicious financial transactions, reiterating their commitment to tackling economic crimes.
