Ex-banker Obinna Nwaobi accused of diverting N515m from customer’s account

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, Nwaobi is being investigated for allegedly authorising the diversion of N515 million from a customer’s Debt Service Reserve Account (DSRA), belonging to DAHUA Paper Company, without authorisation.

Oyewale said the commission received a petition dated June 22, 2026, from the bank, alleging that the money was withdrawn from the customer’s account in three tranches of N200 million, N150 million and N165 million on July 17, 2024.

“The petitioner explained that the account from which the money was moved was reactivated in June 2024.

“Upon reactivation, the account was not placed on Post No Debit as required, which led to the fraudulent withdrawals.

“These transactions were processed from our Okpara Avenue, Enugu Branch, using forged documents and authorised by Obinna Nwaobi (Head of Operations),” the petitioner alleged.

Oyewale said preliminary investigations revealed that the account was a Bank of Industry loan repayment account, which was not accessible to customers as it was meant solely for loan repayments.

He explained that withdrawals or transfers to third parties were prohibited on such accounts without the approval of the Account Officer, Regional Manager and Credit Monitoring Team.

However, the transactions were allegedly carried out illegally using forged documents and authorised by Nwaobi, who was the Head of Operations at the time.

The EFCC spokesperson added that Nwaobi was also standing trial before a Federal High Court in Enugu over the alleged unauthorised withdrawal of $510,000 from the same bank.

He said the suspect would be charged to court after the conclusion of investigations.