A Nigerian court has convicted a First Bank customer, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley, after he openly declined to return funds mistakenly credited to his account, stating that he would rather serve a jail term than refund the money.
Kingsley was found guilty of unlawfully retaining and spending approximately N1.5 billion that was erroneously transferred into his bank account.
The court held that his actions went beyond a banking mistake, amounting to a deliberate refusal to return funds he was not entitled to keep.
Delivering judgment, the court sentenced Kingsley to one year in prison with an alternative option of a N5 million fine.
However, during proceedings, he reportedly made it clear that he preferred imprisonment over repaying the outstanding balance linked to the erroneous credit.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which prosecuted the case, informed the court that investigations revealed Kingsley had transferred substantial amounts of the money to other accounts and spent significant sums before the error was detected.
According to the prosecution, substantial amounts were later recovered through account reversals and funds traced to associates, though not all the money was retrieved.
Furthermore, the court ordered Kingsley to refund the unrecovered balance to First Bank, stressing that opting for a custodial sentence does not absolve a defendant of financial liability arising from unlawful enrichment.
Legal observers say the ruling sends a clear signal that recipients of mistaken bank transfers have a duty under the law to report and return such funds.
Retaining or spending the money, they argue, exposes beneficiaries to criminal sanctions regardless of how the funds were received.
Hence, the case has drawn widespread attention, serving as a warning to bank customers that accidental credits are not free gains and that refusal to refund them can lead to imprisonment and lasting legal consequences.
