EFCC Arraigns Former Banker over Alleged N132m Investment Fraud
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, November 9, 2026, arraigned a former banker, Ighodaro Asemota, over an alleged investment fraud to the tune of N132 million before Justice C. A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin, Edo State.
Asemota, a former Group Head, Small and Medium Enterprises, at a commercial bank’s Akpapara Branch in Benin, is facing a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.
The defendant allegedly induced Professor Idia Ize Iyamu to invest N150 million in commercial papers. However, without the bank’s knowledge or authorisation, he allegedly issued a forged investment letter to the victim’s company, Shalom Dental Clinic.
He was also alleged to have forged the signatures of his colleagues on the document without their knowledge or consent.
His arrest followed a complaint lodged by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) over the alleged fraudulent transaction.
Count one of the charge reads:
“That you, Ighodaro Asemota, sometime in April, 2021, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N132,000,000 (One Hundred and Thirty Two Million Naira) from Professor Idia Ize Iyamu under the false pretenses that you had secured investment in commercial papers for her company: Shalom Dental Clinic, with Guaranty Trust Bank, a pretense you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 1 (1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him.
Following his plea, EFCC counsel, Innocent Mbachie, urged the court to fix a date for trial and remand the defendant pending trial. However, Asemota’s counsel, A. O Ogunremi, pleaded with the court to admit his client to bail.
In his ruling, Justice Obiozor ordered that Asemota be remanded in correctional custody and adjourned the case to December 2, 2026, for the hearing of his bail application and commencement of trial.
