The management of Achievers University, Owo, Ondo State, has uncovered an alleged N457.5m tuition fraud involving a former staff member accused of diverting school fees paid by hundreds of students into a personal bank account.

The institution said its internal audit and investigative panel uncovered that no fewer than 320 students allegedly paid their tuition fees into the private account of a former bursary staff member, identified as Olanike Mary Asabia, instead of the university’s official accounts.

The Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Oyesoji Aremu, disclosed this in a bulletin issued to the university community following the conclusion of a students’ fees payment audit exercise.

According to the university, the fraudulent scheme was uncovered after management detected irregularities in the institution’s payment portal, prompting an extensive investigation and verification exercise involving all students.

Aremu stated that the suspect, an alumnus of the university’s Department of Accounting who was later employed in the bursary department, allegedly masterminded the fraud before resigning from the institution in April 2025.

“The fraud was masterminded by one Olanike Mary Asabia, an alumnus of the Department of Accounting of our university, who was later employed to work at the university bursary,” the statement read.

The university explained that the alleged fraud affected the 2023/2024, 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 academic sessions.

According to findings of the investigative panel, 320 students allegedly paid a total of N457,508,645 into the personal account of the former staff member, who subsequently cleared the affected students on the institution’s portal without the university receiving the payments.

The management alleged that many of the students were persuaded to participate in the arrangement through promises of discounted fees and commission-based incentives.

The bulletin further revealed that 11 staff members and 34 students allegedly acted as agents by recruiting students into the illegal payment scheme.

The university also indicted an external collaborator said to be working with the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, for allegedly participating in the fraudulent operation.

“The activities of these individuals had been going on for some time before they were discovered a few days ago. Some arrests have been made and those involved have made useful statements. Police investigation is ongoing,” Aremu stated.

Following the discovery, the institution directed all affected students to repay their tuition fees into the university’s designated accounts, including penalties for late payment.

The university added that the indicted students and agents would appear before the Students Disciplinary Committee, while implicated staff members would face the Senior Staff Disciplinary Committee.

Aremu also disclosed that the former bursary official was already under police investigation and could face prosecution upon the conclusion of investigations.

The acting vice-chancellor noted that the audit exercise would be extended to review payments made by students who graduated within the last two academic sessions.

“We have the approval of Council to exhibit absolute transparency in handling the investigation and dissemination of information to the university community, so as to eliminate rumour mongering and misinformation,” he added.

The university management appealed for the cooperation of staff and students as efforts continue to recover the diverted funds and strengthen internal financial controls.