AFP
LAGOS
Nigeria’s anti-graft agency said it was hunting a 38-year-old bank worker on Wednesday for allegedly stealing $38 million from his employers by hacking into computer systems.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Godswill Oyegwa Uyoyou allegedly conspired with others to steal 6.28 billion naira ($38 million, 29 million euros) from the Abuja office of a commercial bank.
“As an IT staff, he used his knowledge of the bank’s database to perpetrate the scam,” EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren told AFP in Lagos. “We are still on the trail of those involved in the fraud.”
The money was electronically transferred to accounts held by Uyoyou’s alleged accomplices on Saturday when the bank, which has not been identified, was closed for business, Uwujaren said.
Nigeria has an unenviable reputation for financial and cyber-fraud.
The EFCC was set up in 2003 to crack down on so-called “419” scams, whereby unsuspecting victims are tricked into handing over bank account details on-line.
The agency also handles claims of government corruption.