A Lagos court has convicted and sentenced a First Bank customer, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley, to one year imprisonment or a fine of N5 million for refusing to refund N1.5 billion that was mistakenly credited to his bank account.
Kingsley, who was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stunned the court after openly declaring his preference for serving the jail term rather than refunding the remaining balance of the illicit funds.
In its judgment, the court further ordered the defendant to refund N272.25 million, representing the outstanding balance yet to be recovered from the fraudulent transaction.
The EFCC told the court that investigations revealed that shortly after the erroneous credit, Kingsley transferred and distributed the funds across multiple accounts, including those belonging to his mother and sister, in an apparent attempt to conceal the proceeds.
According to the anti-graft agency, it had already recovered over N1.1 billion from Kingsley’s account and those linked to his relatives.
Specifically, the EFCC recovered N802,420,000 from various bank accounts traced to the defendant, his mother, and his sister during the course of the investigation.
The commission maintained that Kingsley’s actions constituted a clear case of criminal conversion and fraudulent retention of funds, stressing that a mistaken credit does not confer ownership on the recipient.
The conviction, the EFCC noted, serves as a stern warning to bank customers that retaining or spending funds wrongly credited to one’s account is a criminal offence punishable under Nigerian law.
