Former Banker Remanded For Allegedly Defrauding Edo Professor Of N132m With Forged GTBank Investment Letter
Former Banker Remanded For Allegedly Defrauding Edo Professor Of N132m With Forged GTBank Investment Letter
Asemota was arraigned on Monday, November 9, 2026, by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC before Justice C. A. Obiozor on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former banker, Ighodaro Asemota, before the Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, over an alleged N132 million investment fraud involving Professor Idia Ize Iyamu and her company, Shalom Dental Clinic.
Asemota was arraigned on Monday, November 9, 2026, by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC before Justice C. A. Obiozor on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence and forgery.
The former banker, who served as Group Head, Small and Medium Enterprises, at a commercial bank’s Akpapara Branch in Benin, allegedly induced Professor Ize Iyamu to invest N150 million in commercial papers.
However, the EFCC explained that Asemota, without the knowledge or authorisation of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), issued a forged investment letter to the professor’s company, Shalom Dental Clinic, purportedly confirming the investment.
He was also accused of forging the signatures of his colleagues on the investment document without their knowledge or consent.
The commission said his arrest followed a complaint lodged by GTBank over the alleged fraudulent transaction.
According to the EFCC, Asemota allegedly obtained N132 million from Professor Ize Iyamu in April 2021 by falsely claiming that he had secured an investment in commercial papers for Shalom Dental Clinic through GTBank.
Count one of the charge reads: “That you, Ighodaro Asemota, sometime in April, 2021, within the jurisdiction of his Honourable Court with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N132,000,000 (One Hundred and Thirty Two Million Naira) from Professor Idia Ize Iyamu under the false pretenses that you had secured investment in commercial papers for her company: Shalom Dental Clinic, with Guaranty Trust Bank, a pretense you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence, contrary to Section 1 (1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
When the charges were read to him in court, Asemota pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Following his plea, EFCC counsel, Innocent Mbachie, urged the court to adjourn the matter for trial and order the defendant’s remand in custody pending the determination of the case.
However, counsel to the defendant, A. O. Ogunremi, appealed to the court to grant his client bail.
In his ruling, Justice Obiozor ordered that Asemota be remanded in correctional custody.
The judge subsequently adjourned the case until December 2, 2026, for the hearing of the defendant’s bail application and commencement of trial.
