VeryDarkMan petitions CBN, EFCC in alleged theft of deceased customer’s N500m in Access Bank
By Ishaya Ibrahim
The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have received petitions from activist, Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan on behalf of a woman who alleged that her late brother’s N500 million in Access Bank mysteriously disappeared when she started processing the release of the funds.
The deceased man, Awah Idongesit Edet, died on April 17, 2019 after battling an undisclosed ailment for nine years, according to his sister whom VeryDarkman refers to as Mama due to her age.
When the sickness became worse, the dying man reportedly disclosed to his sister that he had N10 million in GTBank, N3 million in Keystone Bank, N2.9 million in Diamond Access, and another over N500 million in Diamond Access.
The dying man reportedly told his sister the over N500 million in Diamond Access had never been touched, and it was in the account he received a huge payment from an aviation company following his health challenge.
Mama said a month after her brother died, she obtained a letter of administration from the court since there was no Will. She reportedly went to GTBank with her lawyer and the bank immediately confirmed the presence of the money in that account. She said she was asked to open an Estate Account in which the money was paid.
Next was Keystone Bank, and the process was seamless as the bank also demanded she open an Estate Account in which they paid the money.
But in Access Bank on Cashier Road in Kaduna, crisis erupted when she showed up to take possession of the N2.9 million there. She said the bank staff denied the existence of the account.
“They said that my brother has no account with them. That the number was not even Diamond Access account. I told them other banks didn’t give me stress. I insisted that they must give me the money. The secretary of the bank said I was disturbing them, that my brother didn’t have money with them. The manager came and started shouting that I should never return to the bank again,” Mama narrated.
A commotion later ensued in the bank hall, according to Mama. One Chibuzor who appeared to be the overall boss, then reportedly came out and told Mama that they were sorry.
“I told him sorry for what. What are you sorry for? He said they would give me the money. They asked me to open an estate account. I told them I would not open an estate account until I saw the money. They now brought cash of N2.9 million. I put something inside the Estate Account, about N60,000 and I took the rest home.”
The bigger crisis now is taking possession of the over N500 million in Access Bank. Already, Access Bank has denied the existence of such account. But VeryDarkMan claimed the bank was being clever by half because it omitted some years in the statement of account the bank printed.
On Friday, November 29, VeryDarkMan accompanied Mama to file a petition with the CBN and EFCC to unravel the mystery behind the alleged missing N500 million.
