The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has secured the conviction and sentencing of Ojo Eghosa Kingsley to one year imprisonment for fraud involving more than ₦1.5 billion belonging to First Bank Plc.
The conviction was delivered by the Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City after the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge brought against him by the anti-graft agency.
Kingsley was sentenced on Monday, January 19, 2026, by Justice W. I. Aziegbemhin. The court imposed a one-year jail term with an option of a ₦5 million fine, following his admission of guilt in the case prosecuted by the Benin Zonal Directorate of the EFCC.
According to the EFCC, Kingsley, a customer of First Bank Plc, fraudulently converted funds that were mistakenly credited into his bank account. The commission said the erroneous credit ran into over ₦1.5 billion and was lodged into the defendant’s account over a period of several months.
The offence was said to have occurred between June and November 2025. During this period, investigators established that Kingsley took advantage of the bank’s error and diverted the funds for his personal use rather than notifying the bank or returning the money.
The conviction followed his arraignment on a one-count charge of stealing under the Criminal Code Law of Edo State. The charge stated that Kingsley fraudulently converted the sum of ₦1,507,502,182.24, property of First Bank Plc, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 387(1) and punishable under Section 394 of the Criminal Code Law of Edo State, 2022.
When the charge was read in court, Kingsley pleaded guilty. Following the plea, the prosecution counsel, M. S. Dahiru, urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly, noting that the offence had been clearly established and admitted by the accused.
Counsel to the defendant, however, appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy. The defence highlighted Kingsley’s remorse and cooperation during the proceedings and asked the court to consider these factors in determining his sentence.
In his judgment, Justice Aziegbemhin convicted Kingsley based on his guilty plea. The judge subsequently sentenced him to one year imprisonment with an option of a ₦5 million fine, in line with the provisions of the law.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Kingsley to restitute First Bank Plc with the sum of ₦272,252,193.59. The amount represents the outstanding balance from the total fraudulent sum, after partial recoveries made during the investigation. The court directed that the restitution be paid within a specified period.
The EFCC disclosed that significant sums had already been recovered from accounts linked to the defendant. According to the commission, investigators recovered ₦802,420,000 from bank accounts associated with Kingsley, his mother, and his sister during the course of the investigation.
The recovered funds were formally returned to First Bank Plc on January 12, 2026. The handover was carried out by the Acting Zonal Director of the EFCC’s Benin Zonal Directorate, Deputy Commander of the EFCC, DCE Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad.
The anti-graft agency further revealed that before the conclusion of the investigation, First Bank Plc had already recovered over ₦300 million through transfer reversals from Kingsley’s account. These reversals were effected after the bank detected the fraudulent transactions linked to the erroneous credit.
The EFCC said the conviction underscores its commitment to tackling financial crimes and ensuring that individuals who exploit systemic errors in financial institutions are held accountable under the law.
As part of the terms following his conviction, Kingsley also gave a written undertaking to the court, pledging to maintain good behaviour and desist from any form of criminal activity in the future.
