A customer of First Bank in Benin City, Edo State, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley, has been convicted by an Edo State High Court for refusing to refund N1.5 billion mistakenly credited to his account and fraudulently converting the funds to his own use.
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The Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, January 19, 2026, secured the conviction and sentence of Kingsley before Justice W. I. Aziegbemhin of Edo State High Court, sitting in Benin City.
Kingsley, who was prosecuted on a one-count charge bordering on stealing, pleaded guilty to fraudulently taking possession of over N1.5 billion erroneously credited to his account by the bank.
The charge against Kingsley read: “That you OJO EGHOSA KINGSLEY (M) sometime between June, 2025 to November, 2025 within the jurisdiction of this honorable Court did steal the aggregate sum of N1,507,502,182.24 (One Billion, Five Hundred and Seven Million, Five Hundred and Two Thousand, One Hundred and Eighty Two Naira, Twenty Four Kobo), property of First Bank Plc by fraudulently converting the said sum to your own use, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 387(1) of Criminal Code Law of Edo State Law, 2022 and punishable under Section 394 of the same Law.”
When the charge was read to him in court, the defendant pleaded guilty, which prompted the prosecution counsel, M. S. Dahiru, to pray the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.
However, counsel to the defendant pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that the defendant had become remorseful for his actions.
Despite the plea for leniency, Justice Aziegbemhin proceeded to convict and sentence Ojo Eghosa Kingsley to one year imprisonment or a fine of N5 million.
The court also ordered the convict to restitute First Bank Plc with the sum of N272,252,193.59 (Two Hundred and Seventy Two Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Two Thousand, One Hundred and Ninety Three Naira, Fifty Nine Kobo) within a stipulated period of time, being the balance of the N1.5 billion.
The EFCC demonstrated remarkable efficiency in tracing and recovering the misappropriated funds through multiple channels.
During investigation, the anti-graft agency recovered the sum of N802,420,000 from various bank accounts traced to the defendant, his mother and sister. This recovered amount was handed over to First Bank by the Acting Zonal Director of the Benin Zonal Directorate, Deputy Commander of the EFCC, DCE Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad, on Monday, January 12, 2026.
In addition to the funds recovered by the EFCC, over N300 million was recovered from the defendant’s account by the bank through transfer reversal.
In total, over N1.1 billion of the mistakenly credited N1.5 billion was recovered, leaving the outstanding balance of N272.25 million which the court has now ordered Kingsley to refund.
The successful recovery demonstrates the commission’s capacity to trace funds dispersed across multiple accounts in attempts to hide illicit proceeds, as well as effective collaboration between the EFCC and financial institutions in recovering misappropriated funds.
Aside the restitution, conviction and sentence, the defendant undertook in writing to be of good behaviour going forward, indicating his commitment to reform and avoid future criminal conduct.
The case raises important questions about the legal and moral obligations of individuals who find themselves unexpectedly enriched by bank errors.
Under Nigerian law, fraudulent conversion occurs when a person dishonestly converts property belonging to another to their own use, even if the property came into their possession through a mistake.
The fact that the funds were mistakenly credited does not give the recipient legal ownership or the right to keep them. The law imposes a duty to report such errors and return the funds to the rightful owner.
Kingsley’s conviction serves as a warning to others who might be tempted to keep funds mistakenly credited to their accounts, making it clear that such actions constitute criminal theft and will be prosecuted accordingly.
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