Premium Trust Bank official narrates how colleague supplied him $7,000 bribe to hack financial institution’s system

An official of Premium Trust Bank, Ajayi Michael Folaseye, has narrated earlier than a Federal Excessive Courtroom, Ikoyi, Lagos, how he turned down a $7,000 bribe supplied by a colleague who sought unauthorized entry to the financial institution’s inner methods.

Folaseye, the primary prosecution witness (PW1), testified within the ongoing trial of Kehinde Odeyemi and Matthew Adeniyi Damilola, each workers of Premium Trust Bank, earlier than Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal Excessive Courtroom, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, June 30, 2025.

The defendants are standing trial alongside three others — Samson Latshin Dakup, Bolaji Omotosho Yinka, and Sunday Badeniyi Okunola — on a seven-count cost of conspiracy to steal, filed in opposition to them by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee, EFCC.

Led in proof by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Folaseye, an Data Expertise (IT) officer on the financial institution, informed the court docket that the primary defendant, Kehinde Odeyemi, an inner auditor, made the provide throughout a discreet dialog on Could 5, 2025.

“She approached me throughout workplace hours and advised we may make some cash via a ‘aspect gig,’” he mentioned.

“She requested for a generic IP deal with used inside the IT division.”

Folaseye defined that he knowledgeable her that no such generic IP deal with existed, including that he solely had a private IP deal with assigned for his every day duties.

Regardless of his refusal, Odeyemi allegedly supplied him $5,000 in money, promising to have it delivered from the financial institution’s head workplace that night.

“After I declined, she elevated the provide to $7,000,” he mentioned.

“I informed her I wasn’t . She then informed me to maintain the dialog secret and threatened to resign if I reported it,” the witness added.

Folaseye mentioned he instantly tried to report the incident to his supervisor, Mr. Kenneth Nwaeze.

When Nwaeze was unavailable, he escalated the matter to Mr. Idris Adegoke and ultimately to the Head of IT, Mr. Mike Koledoye.

Based on him, Koledoye convened a gathering on Could 6, 2025, with all events concerned, listened to their accounts, and instructed that acceptable safety measures be carried out.

Every week later, on Could 13, Folaseye and two different workers members had been invited by the EFCC to offer formal statements.

The witness additional defined that the IP deal with Odeyemi requested was a extremely delicate entry level to the financial institution’s servers and databases.

“It’s a code that grants entry to buyer knowledge and core banking operations. Disclosing it will pose severe cybersecurity dangers,” he mentioned.

He added that sharing such delicate data would represent a violation of the financial institution’s knowledge safety insurance policies.

“My division is the spine of the financial institution. We warehouse all transaction knowledge. A breach may result in cyber assaults or erode buyer belief,” he said.

When requested why he determined to report the dialog regardless of being urged to stay silent, Folaseye mentioned, “Given previous incidents, the financial institution mandates us to report any suspicious behaviour instantly. It may have been a entice or an integrity check.”

The prosecution then sought to tender the witness’ written assertion to the EFCC as proof.

Though the defence objected, citing illegibility, Justice Owoeye admitted the doc, ruling that the issues raised had been points for cross-examination, not grounds for inadmissibility.

Earlier, the primary defendant’s counsel, Adeleke Adepoju, utilized for an adjournment, arguing that the defence had insufficient entry to prosecution supplies vital for trial preparation.

He referenced Part 36(6) of the Structure and Part 396 of the Administration of Felony Justice Act, 2015.

Counsel for the second and fifth defendants, Olusola and A. Oliha, additionally opposed the trial’s graduation, claiming the proof of proof was unclear and unreadable.

Nonetheless, Oyedepo countered, insisting the prosecution had served the paperwork since June 19.

“If the defence had issues, they need to have raised them earlier than in the present day. Everybody agreed to this trial date,” he argued, urging the court docket to proceed.

In a bench ruling, Justice Owoeye dismissed the purposes and directed the prosecution to proceed with its first witness. The case was adjourned to July 18, 2025, for additional listening to.

The EFCC had, on Could 20, 2025, arraigned Odeyemi, Damilola, and the three others earlier than the Federal Excessive Courtroom in Ikoyi, Lagos, on a seven-count cost of conspiracy to steal.

One of many counts reads: “That you simply, Kehinde Odeyemi, Samson Latshin Dakup, Bolaji Omotosho Yinka, Sunday Badeniyi Okunola, and Matthew Adeniyi Damilola, together with individuals recognized as Humble (at giant), Wasiu (at giant), Isa Ismaila (at giant), and one other known as Victor Joshua Ilemona aka Oracle (at giant), conspired unlawfully between April and Could 2025 in Lagos, inside the jurisdiction of this Honourable Courtroom, to control the entry code (together with the financial institution’s server IP and area credentials) of Premium Trust Bank Restricted in a bid to achieve unauthorised entry to your complete database of Premium Trust Bank Restricted for the aim of committing an offence to wit: stealing from the financial institution’s funds, and also you thereby dedicated an offence opposite to Part 27 and 28 (1) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, And many others.) Act, 2015 (as amended, 2024), which is punishable beneath Part 28 (2) of the identical Act.”