Rowly Isioro, Keystone Bank’s AGM and Wife in EFCC’s Net over N884 Million Fraud

One of the financial institutions in the country today, Keystone Bank has one of their top managers enmeshed in financial mess as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos office, has arrested their AGM, Rowly Isioro and his wife Ovuomarhoni Naomi Isioro, a businesswoman, for their alleged involvement in Business Email Compromise, BEC, and money laundering.

A statement released by the commission on Monday, November 4th, says the couple were alleged to have laundered the total sum of One Million and Forty-nine Thousand Dollars ($1.49m) or N0.5 billion which was allegedly transferred to Ovuomarhoni Naomi’s bank account in Nigeria. Their arrest followed a petition received by the Commission from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, through the office of their Legal Attache, United States Consulate Victoria Island Lagos, about their alleged involvement in computer related fraud, stealing and money laundering.

The EFCC in its usual fashion had withheld the name of the bank involved in the story, however checks by The Herald NG showed that Rowly has been under the employ of Keystone bank for 11 years and 3 months. His professional profile on social media show he is still an employee of the bank as the Head of the South Directorate. According to his profile, he is responsible for all business segments (Commercial, Retail, Corporate, Public Sector) in 11 (eleven) states in Nigeria – Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Anambra, Imo, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi.

His professional profile also reads, “Rowly is a Chartered Banker and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) with over 20 years of banking experience. As a trade and transaction banking specialist with working knowledge in 15 African countries, he has played an important role in growing trade in various African markets and attracting foreign investments into Africa. He has held senior management positions in leading banks in Nigeria and has presented several papers internationally and locally.

“He is currently the Head of South Directorate at Keystone Bank Limited with responsibility for all business segments. Prior to now, he was the Divisional Head, International Banking with specific mandate for delivering trade and transaction banking solutions in the 5 countries where the bank is physically present – Nigeria, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia. He had worked at United Bank for Africa (UBA) as the Head of Global Financial Institutions with responsibility for selling and delivering treasury, cash and trade products across Africa as well as developing and managing correspondent banking relationships between UBA New York and local banks in 15 African countries. He was also responsible for relationships with Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).

He started his banking career at FBN (Merchant Bankers) Ltd and later worked at FSB International Bank Plc, New Nigeria Bank Plc, and Access Bank Plc. His exposure also includes Commercial Banking/Branch Management, Domestic/Treasury Operations, International Operations, Internal Control and Audit. He holds a B.Sc Degree in Accountancy (Second Class Upper Division) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and has attended various international courses, seminars, conferences and workshops on Structured Trade & Commodity Finance, Risk Management, Trade Sales, Transaction Banking, Personal Development, Team Building and Leadership. He is married and blessed with three children.