Excitement as EFCC hands over recovered N42.5m to 70-yr-old widow

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

The joy on the face of Mrs. Margret Taye Odofin, a 70-year-old widow and retiree was palpable on Thursday as she received officials of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC in her home in Kaduna State for obvious reason.

The EFCC official came, armed with a a bank draft of N42,05 million (Forty-two Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) lost by the widow to a fraudulent account and investment officer, Mrs. Kehinde Olawale Yusuf, who worked in one of the new generation banks.

The fraudulent banker had ran out of the country after defrauding Mrs Odofin of the princely sum.

“I cannot believe this because when we reported this case in the United Kingdom where Mrs Kehinde Yusuf absconded, after defrauding me, they said the offence was committed in Nigeria, hence they advised that we report to it the EFCC, which we did and today I am singing to the glory of God because God has used the Commission to wipe away my tears. I have waited for years to get my hard-earned money back,” the over-joyed Odofin said while heaping thanks and praises on EFCC and its chairman Ola Olukoyede for the recovery of the fund.

This was after the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the Commission led by its Acting director, Bawa Kaltungo handed over the bank draft to Odofin on behalf of EFCC’s Executive Chairman..

Kaltungo had reiterated the commitment of Olukoyede’s leadership in getting justice for victims of financial fraud while handing over the bank draft: “I want to sincerely appreciate you for having trust in the Commission to help you recover your hard-earned money. We are happy that we have convinced you of our professionalism and capacity to resolve any fraudulent activity within our mandate,” he said.

Responding, Mrs Odofin said: “I want to thank Mr. Ola Olukoyede for the excellent job he is doing. I will campaign for the EFCC anywhere because today they have given me every reason to believe and testify that the Commission is working sincerely. I pray for you all that you continue to succeed,” she said.

The recovery of the money followed a petition to the Kaduna Zonal Directorate of the EFCC in December 2024 by the widow in she alleged that Mrs. Yusuf, being her account and investment officer , had between November 2020 and December, 2020, lured her into investing in some ponzi businesses with a promise of a quarterly return on the investment of N1,700,000 (One Million, Seven Hundred Thousand Naira).

But she said unknown to her, the banker’s motive was solely to defraud her as she later.

Odofin said this became evident when she realized that the sum of N47 million had been creamed off her account and wired to various bank accounts without her permission.

Worse still, Mrs Yusuf cut off communications with her and fled to the United Kingdom after she made enquiries from her on the transactions.

However, her flight out of the country could not deter the EFCC from tracing and recovering the stolen monetary assets.