By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A former employee of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mrs Oreoluwa Adesakin, has been directed to spend the next 98 years behind bars.
The reason for this jail term was because she was found guilty of stealing N49.3 million and an additional $368,203 in the possession of her former employers.
The ex-banker was arraigned in 2014 by the Ibadan zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for theft after a petition from the financial institution.
She was specifically taken to court on 14-count charges bordering on stealing, forgery and fraudulent accounting, which she pleaded not guilty to.
“That you Oreoluwa Adesakin, sometime between the months of May 2013 and November 2013, at Ibadan within the Ibadan Judicial Division, whilst being a staff of First Bank Plc, stole the sum of N25,974,116 from First Bank Plc MoneyGram Payment Naira Account,” one of the charges read.
According to First Bank, Mr Adesakin, a Money Transfer Operator, saddled with the responsibility of effecting payments through Western Union Money Transfer and Money Gram platforms, manipulated accounting and withdrew a total of N49.3 million and another $368,203 for herself.
The anti-graft agency informed the court during the trial that the former banker used part of the proceeds to acquire landed properties in different parts of Oyo State.
Delivering the judgement recently, Justice Muniru Olagunju of the Oyo State High Court found Mrs Adesakin guilty of all the charges levelled against her.
The judge subsequently convicted her to seven years in prison without an option of fine on each of the 14 counts, which will run concurrently.
In addition, the convicted banker has been directed to refund all the money she stole from the First Bank to the company and this would be done through the EFCC.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale