Justice Joseph Oyewole, in his judgment delivered on Wednesday, also ordered the 38-year-old ex banker to pay the bank the sum of N6.6m as restitution. The EFCC had on February 19, 2007, arraigned Romeo and an accomplice, Francis Ineh, on 30 counts, including conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence.
According to Mr. Anselem, as a systems administrator, Romeo used the profile of
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one of the witnesses, Mrs. Ngozi Ikemba, to authorise a transaction without her knowledge or approval.
He said an audit trail by the bank system administrators showed that Ikemba was on training in Enugu, when Romeo used her account to perpetrate the fraud. “The accused as a Super User was well positioned to access the account even though he never worked in Benin,” he said.
Francis Ineh had earlier pleaded guilty to the charges. He was consequently convicted and sentenced. But Omenogor pleaded not guilty and opted to undergo full trial.
The commission said the fraud was carried out between May and June 2007 at the Ugbowo Branch of the bank in Benin where Francis had two accounts. It added that Francis withdrew the money in FESTAC Town branch of the bank in Lagos.
