How company employee allegedly stole N85m, spent N61m on online gambling

By John Ogunsemore

The Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) has arrested a company employee and an accomplice over alleged N85 million stealing, N61 million of which was spent on online betting/gambling platforms.

Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Anthony Placid disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday.

Placid said the company employee, 31-year-old Ayodele Daramola, and one Dada Babatunde Oluwatobi, 29, were arrested for criminal conspiracy, breach of data privacy, Business Email Compromise (BEC), unauthorised access to computer network, fraud, money laundering, and forgery.

He added that their arrest followed a petition received by a private company about allegations of financial misconduct in the company.

The statement reads, “Preliminary investigations revealed that between May and December 2025, Ayodele Daramola, an employee in the position of Investment Booking, conspired with Dada Babatunde Oluwatobi a non-staff member to fraudulently divert company funds.

“The suspects allegedly siphoned a total sum of ₦85,000,000.00 by exploiting internal systems and channelling the funds through a commercial bank account belonging to Dada Babatunde Oluwatobi.

“From the proceeds, 21% approximately ₦17,850,000.00 was retained by Dada Babatunde, while 79% approximately ₦67,150,000.00 was transferred to an online bank account linked to Ayodele Daramola.

“Further investigation established that approximately ₦61,000,000.00 received by Ayodele Daramola was expended on online gambling and betting platforms.

“A cash sum of ₦4,000,000.00, one unserviceable Lexus ES350 (Reg. No. Lagos JJJ878JZ), one Dell Laptop, one iPhone 13 Pro Max were recovered from the suspects.”

Placid said investigations were ongoing and efforts being intensified to recover the remaining funds and prosecute all parties involved in accordance with the law.