An Ikeja Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced Olawale Faleti, a former Lagos State Education Director, to two years and five months in prison for the misappropriation of N48.9 million from Access Bank Plc.

Justice Rahman Oshodi, who presided over the case, convicted the 64-year-old on five counts of theft following charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In delivering the judgment, Justice Oshodi described Faleti’s actions as “deliberate and sustained,” highlighting that he repeatedly withdrew funds without authorisation. The judge also noted that Faleti had not shown genuine remorse or fully accepted responsibility for his conduct.

“Financial institutions are the backbone of our economy, and public trust in them must be safeguarded,” Justice Oshodi said. “Anyone attempting to defraud banks must understand that severe penalties will follow.”

Although Faleti is a first-time offender, the court ruled that a custodial sentence was unavoidable. Oshodi applied a 20 per cent reduction from the statutory maximum of three years, taking into account the partial restitution already made by the convict.

Faleti was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of two years and five months on each of the five counts, with the term set to commence from January 5, 2026. The court also directed that his biometric data and details be recorded in the Lagos State Judiciary offenders’ registry.

Additionally, the court ordered that, after deducting N3 million already repaid, Faleti must pay the remaining N45.9 million to Access Bank Plc. The bank is to inform the court once full repayment has been made.

During proceedings, EFCC counsel Ahmed Dambuwa stated that Faleti exploited unauthorised access to an Access Bank credit card to convert the funds. The card, which allowed withdrawals of no less than N43,000 per transaction, was affected by a system error during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, enabling Faleti to withdraw roughly N48 million.

Specific charges included converting N12.6 million between July 2 and July 10, 2020, and N6.9 million between May 22 and July 1, 2020, all belonging to Access Bank Plc. The offences contravened Section 287(1)(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.