A Suspect Vanishes During a Bank Sting

A bank meeting becomes the setting for a police operation targeting an alleged cyber-fraud syndicate. (Digital Illustration: GoBeyondLocal)

A Suspect Vanishes During a Bank Sting

The meeting was supposed to help a bank protect its network. Instead, it gave police a place to close in on a group accused of planning attacks against banks.

A bank employee was sitting with people who wanted access to information technology systems belonging to the bank. Among those involved was a man who had flown into Nigeria from France specifically for the operation.

His name was Chibuzor Holland.

The plan depended on access from inside the bank. An active member of the information technology department had been approached with an offer of N200 million and a visa out of Nigeria.

The proposed arrangement required the worker to leave critical gateways open on the bank server. That access could have allowed the syndicate to enter the network and move money using Python applications and Zoom.

The approach gave investigators a way into the scheme. Information reaching the Police Special Fraud Unit led Commissioner Anyasinti Josephine Nneka to direct surveillance and an arrest operation on March 30, 2022.

The target was the meeting where the syndicate was in the final stages of recruiting the bank employee.

Three men were arrested during the meeting. Police identified them as Kehinde Oladimeji, Olanrewaju Adeshina and Kolapo Stephen Abiodun.

Oladimeji, aged 52, was described as the alleged mastermind. Adeshina was 47. Abiodun, aged 42, had previously worked in the bank information technology department.

Abiodun was the link between the group and the bank worker. His role had placed him in a position to understand how the bank systems worked, and investigators said he had attempted to recruit the employee with the large financial offer and promise of a visa.

The operation produced three arrests. Holland escaped.

Holland had come from France specifically for the planned operation, according to the Police Special Fraud Unit account. The available record gives no detailed description of the route he used to leave the scene.

What police knew was that the fourth suspect had slipped away while the other three were being taken into custody.

The arrests gave investigators access to phones and electronic devices connected to the group. Forensic examination produced another part of the plan.

A list of 10 other banks was found among the material. The institutions had been earmarked for similar attacks after the first operation succeeded.

Other information also surfaced from the devices. Personal and corporate bank account details were found in the possession of the suspects, according to the police account.

The proposed attack therefore extended beyond the single bank meeting where the arrests took place.

The case was assigned Charge No. FHC/L/238C/2022 at the Federal High Court in Lagos, where the prosecution continued. Police were still seeking Holland.