UBA Officials Arrested for Diverting £138,924 from International Airlines’ Accounts

Four senior officials of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly stealing £138,924 (over N270 million) from international airlines’ accounts.

CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, the command’s public relations officer, confirmed the development in a statement on Monday.

Though the police did not initially name the bank involved, an investigation by The Witness identified the suspects as employees of Tony Elumelu’s UBA Plc.

“The suspects conspired to siphon funds from domiciliary accounts into personal accounts before redistributing them to multiple destinations,” Hundeyin stated.

“The fraud was uncovered when the bank detected unauthorized transactions and alerted the police.”

Providing details of the arrests, Hundeyin said, “Subsequent investigations led to the arrest of the following suspects: Shuaib Oluwatobiloba Olaleye, male, aged 27, was arrested on March 12, 2025, in Ogun State. A Toyota Camry 2012/2013, suspected to be a proceed of the crime, was recovered from him.

“Oladunjoye Adegoke, male, aged 33, was arrested on March 13, 2025, in Victoria Island, Lagos. A Toyota Camry (Pencil Light), suspected to be another proceed of the stolen funds, was also recovered.

“Further investigation led to the arrest of Austin Alfred, male, aged 38, the Supervisor of the bank’s Trade Services Department, and Jude Uzobuaku, male, aged 36, a processor in the same department. Both facilitated the illegal transfer of funds to foreign accounts.”

Police investigations revealed that the stolen funds were initially funneled into an account belonging to one of the suspects before being distributed to multiple other accounts to evade detection.

Authorities are now working to identify additional accomplices and recover the remaining funds.

“The suspects are in custody and will face prosecution as the investigation continues,” CSP Hundeyin stated.

Meanwhile, the police have urged the public to report suspicious financial transactions, reiterating their commitment to tackling economic crimes.