At least ₦1.1 billion has been stolen from an unspecified number of Nigerians who deposited their money in Moniepoint Microfinance Bank after a hacker breached the bank’s security system through a dark web.
The suspect, identified as Sunday Ozimede by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), planted a bug in the bank’s digital system to orchestrate the fraud going up to ₦1,190,728,076 billion.
Mr Ozimede, 43, was on Thursday arraigned before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court over a slew of charges that include conspiracy, obtaining over ₦945,728, 076 million under false pretence and so on.
The police said Mr Ozimede colluded with other persons to hack into the bank’s data system in May 2024 but that his co-conspirators were still at large.
Prosecutors further told the court that the defendant intercepted numerous money transfers to divert the funds to a designated account using the dark web.
Mr Ozimede pleaded not guilty to the list of charges preferred against him, which led the PSFU prosecution Justine Enang to request that he be remanded in prison until a date is set for the commencement of trial.
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Bail request for suspected Moniepoint hacker
Abdulmalik Ibrahim, the suspect’s lawyer requested bail for his client but the police quickly opposed the bail, arguing the defendant was a flight risk that could not be trusted to appear in court for trial.
Having taken arguments from both parties, Justice Lewis-Allagoa set Mr Ozimede’s bail at N50 million and asked him to provide a surety who must own a landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.
The judge adjourned the matter to March 13, 2025 for trial but asked prosecutors and court registrar to verify that the bail conditions were met before releasing the defendant.