A customer of First Bank Plc, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley, has been sentenced to one year imprisonment or an option to pay a N5 million fine after fraudulently converting over N1.5 billion that was mistakenly credited to his bank account.
Kingsley was arrested by the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and charged before the Edo State High Court in Benin City on Monday, January 19, 2026. He faced a one-count charge of stealing before Justice W. I. Aziegbemhin.
According to court documents, Kingsley, between June and November 2025, fraudulently converted N1,507,502,182.24, belonging to First Bank Plc, for his personal use. The act contravened Section 387(1) of the Criminal Law of Edo State 2022, which is punishable under Section 394 of the same law.
When the charge was read to him, Kingsley pleaded guilty. The prosecution counsel, M. S. Dahiru, urged the court to convict and sentence him in line with the law. Meanwhile, his defence counsel appealed for leniency, highlighting that Kingsley had shown remorse for his actions and cooperated with the investigation.
In his judgment, Justice Aziegbemhin convicted Kingsley and sentenced him to one year in prison, with an alternative N5 million fine. The court also ordered him to restitute First Bank Plc with N272,252,193.59, representing the remaining balance of the N1.5 billion, within a stipulated period.
Investigations by the EFCC revealed that N802,420,000 had already been recovered from various bank accounts linked to Kingsley, his mother, and his sister. These funds were handed over to First Bank Plc by the Acting Zonal Director of EFCC Benin Zonal Directorate, Deputy Commander DCE Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad, on Monday, January 12, 2026. In addition, over N300 million was recovered directly from Kingsley’s account through a transfer reversal executed by the bank.
The court also required Kingsley to sign a written undertaking to maintain good behaviour after fulfilling the court’s conditions and securing his release from custody.
The case has drawn widespread attention in Nigeria, raising debates about the responsibility of bank customers to report accidental credits and the role of regulatory authorities in preventing large scale financial fraud. Legal experts have noted that Kingsley’s decision to plead guilty and accept part of the court’s judgment may have helped him avoid a longer jail term, though restitution remains a key requirement.
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