A High Court sitting in Adamawa State has sentenced the Managing Director of Bonghe Microfinance Bank, Grace Andreas Karka, to five years in prison for her role in a ₦32 million fraud scheme.
Justice Benjamin Lawan Manji handed down the judgment after finding Karka guilty on two counts of criminal conspiracy and cheating, following her prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Gombe Zonal Directorate.
The EFCC told the court that between August 2020 and March 2021, Karka and her associate, Prince Moses Batalu, illegally transferred ₦66.7 million from the bank’s First Bank account without authorization, in breach of Section 61(2) of the Adamawa State Penal Code Law, 2018.
Karka, who pleaded not guilty during her arraignment on November 11, 2024, faced a full trial in which the prosecution called multiple witnesses and tendered financial documents exposing the fraudulent transactions.
Delivering judgment on October 17, 2025, Justice Manji sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment with an option of a ₦3 million fine on each count, to run concurrently. The court further ordered her to refund ₦29.8 million to Bonghe Microfinance Bank.
According to the EFCC, the conviction followed a 2021 audit that uncovered unauthorized fund transfers to a non-customer account, later traced to Karka and Batalu. Despite multiple recovery attempts, the stolen funds were not returned.
The anti-graft agency described the ruling as another victory in its ongoing fight against financial crimes in Nigeria’s banking sector.
