E-Financial
Forensic Firm, CBN, First Bank Clash Over Fraudulent Charge Allegations in $54.2m Facility
Lensview Consulting Services, a Lagos-based forensic and auditing firm, has alleged bias, open fraud, deliberate cover-up and impersonation of persons by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the handling of fraudulent transaction charge refund by Nigerian money deposit banks with First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FBN) as a case in point, according to Quick News Africa report.
Mr. Henry Foss, Managing Consultant of Lensview whose client is a victim of the fraudulent charge, made the disclosure recently.
Lensview had in 2022 approached the CBN on behalf of its clients to compel FBN to refund the sum of $227,235.34, being 0.5% of $554,570.68 as the agreed Bank Guarantee Fee on a $54.2m facility its client requested from FBN. Rather than adhere to the agreed 0.5%, FBN charged Lensview’s client 1% which translated to $554,570.68, and hence the fraudulent excess charge of $227,235.34. “When FBN refused to refund the excess at the agreed rate, based on a long standing offered rate at 0.5%, Lensview had to petition the CBN on the matter and the CBN carefully reviewed the merit of the petition after which it asked FBN to refund the excess amount to the customer with accrued interest as a standing rule,” Foss said.
Instead of honouring CBN’s decision to credit the customer’s account, FBN turned around for several months to find a way to avert the decision by coming up with copy of an email chat purportedly between an FBN employee and the customer’s representative claiming that the Guarantee Fee had been increased from 0.5% to 2%, as an offer condition, which FBN claimed to have been accepted by the customer’s representative. But this unauthorised customer’s representative apparently lacked the capacity to accept such a decision on behalf of the principal nor had the customer’s mandate powers to instruct or authorise payment or drawings on the principal’s account without confirmation and necessary due diligence from the company that officially requested for the facility, with significantly, a minimum of two authorised signatures on its letterhead document for such approvals and payments.
On January 20, 2023, Lensview also wrote to the Governor of the Apex Bank, as a follow-up to the issue of fraudulent perversion, impersonation and miscarriage of Justice by the Consumer Protection Department (CPD), an arm of the CBN in a petition titled, “Reasonable Suspicion, Likelihood of Bias and Cover up By the Director of the CPD in the Appeal of Judgment between Lensview Consulting Services and the CPD with Petition Tracking Number CIM74368/AST involving First Bank Plc,” alleging that there was impersonation of its person, fraudulent neglect and non-compliance on the part of officers of the apex bank.
According to Foss, the transaction was a significantly heavy one such that FBN cannot claim lack of awareness of the fact that for any change of transaction fees to be effective, it must first be communicated to the customer with a letter with evidence of acknowledgement as a proof that the customer is aware of the change.
The forensic and audit firm also noted that FBN was aware that the said customer’s representative does not have the powers or mandate to authorise such transactions, and where he may, as a signatory with mandate powers, it will require at least two authorised signatures over the company’s letter of acceptance on their Letterhead document and not via a chat on phone between two mutual friends.
“Given the facts of the matter vis a vis the practice of banking in Nigeria, it is surprising that the CBN after its earlier verdict that refunds be credited to client, made a sudden u-turn in favour of FBN justifying the fraudulent e-mail received from customer’s staff to conclude that the e-mail suffices as an authority for FBN to take the charge based on instructions from customer’s staff without confirmation from customer’s authorised signatories,” Foss explained, questioning that if the e-mail content sufficed, why did FBN charge 1% instead 2% Guarantee Fee it stated on the email and who negotiated it from 2% to 1%? “Where is the copy of the letter from customer acknowledging the new rate which could have been negotiated or rejected if customer saw it?” Foss asks.
“More worrisome is the CBN’s lack of explanations as to why the email chat between these mutual friends on behalf of their organisations sufficed as an authority to move such a huge amount from the customer’s very busy account in the books of FBN,” Foss notes.
The CBN, in a bid to cover up this fraud, as Lensview pressed harder, in their letter dated 9/1/2023 to Lensview Consulting solicitors wrote that one Mr. Polycarp representing Lensview Consulting Services was invited in an interdepartmental meeting with representatives of the CBN in August 2022, where the said impersonator, Mr. Polycarp, affirmed and upheld the unanimous decisions with the CBN with respect to the fraudulent e-mail from FBN, as correct and sufficient to close the matter.
“This engagement of one purported Mr. Polycarp to stand in for Lensview Consulting Services in the said August 2022 meeting is another fraudulent move by the CBN to cover for FBN on the open e-mail fraud,” Foss said, adding that the CBN, in one of their recent letters to Lensview Consulting, wrote to say they have closed the matter based on the affirmation of the impostor consultant they hired to kill the matter.”
But Foss said that the CBN soon realised that it had erred by engaging an impostor consultant to stand in for Lensview in the said August 2022 meeting, and they quickly wrote back with efforts in futility to invalidate their letter dated 5/1/2023 where Mr. Polycarp the impostor was referred to.
For Lensview, this is a public call for the CBN and it’s co- traveller, FBN to do the right thing and credit the customer the excess charges it fraudulently deducted from the customer.
SOURCE: Quick News Africa
The Federal Government of Nigeria has flagged off a free nationwide training of 10 million Nigerians on financial inclusion and literacy.
This is just as Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria can reap bountifully from its demographic dividend only if young Nigerians and women are equipped with the needed skills and ethical grounding required for a speedily progressing digital economy.
The training undertaken by the Office of the Vice-President through the Presidential Committee on Economic & Financial Inclusion (PreCEFI), chaired by Vice-President Shettima, is designed to equip Nigerians, particularly women and youths, with essential financial skills, investment knowledge, and digital competencies for sustainable wealth creation.
Accordingly, the Office of the vice-president, through the PreCEFI, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with six professional bodies to jointly design training programmes, certification pathways, digital skills initiatives, and mentorship platforms that would strengthen Nigeria’s financial and enterprise workforce.
The professional bodies include the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN); Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN); Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS); National Institute of Credit Administration (NICA); Chartered Risk Management Institute (CRMI) and Nigeria Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NIIE).
Speaking while officially flagging off the free nationwide training of 10 million Nigerians, on behalf of President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, the vice-president noted that the signing of the MoU between the Federal Government and six of Nigeria’s foremost professional bodies was more than a formal agreement.
“It is a strategic national investment in capacity as infrastructure which is the human, institutional and ethical foundations upon which inclusive growth must rest,” he stated.
Shettima noted that the Aso Accord on Economic and Financial Inclusion, which the PreCEFI is mandated to implement, recognises the fact that “financial inclusion is not achieved by access alone, but by competence, trust and capability”.
According to him, the nation “cannot build a one-trillion-dollar economy on weak skills, fragmented standards, or disconnected professional ecosystems”.
He said: “This MoU therefore establishes a working framework to harness the collective expertise of ICAN, CIBN, CIS, CRMI, NICA, and NIIE to advance inclusion through capacity building, advocacy, digital transformation, youth empowerment and support for small and medium practitioners.
“It establishes a structured mechanism for joint training programmes, policy dialogue, digital skills development, and professional standards that align market practice with national inclusion goals.”
The vice-president pointed out that while capacity building is financial inclusion, “without accountants who understand MSME formalisation, credit administrators who can assess risk beyond collateral, bankers who embed consumer protection, risk professionals who anticipate digital threats, and innovators who translate ideas into enterprises, inclusion remains a slogan rather than a system”.
Maintaining that the training programme must prioritise young Nigerians and women, Shettima said: “Importantly, this collaboration prioritises women and youth inclusion and digital transformation, recognising that Nigeria’s demographic dividend will only materialise if young people are equipped with relevant skills and ethical grounding for a fast-evolving digital economy.”
He charged the PreCEFI and the professional bodies not to treat the MoU as a mere document, but as a living platform for execution.
“Accordingly, on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, I hereby flag off the free training of 10 million Nigerians with priority for women and youth across the country,” Shettima declared.
Earlier, President of ICAN, Mallam Haruna Yahaya, applauded the administration of President Tinubu for its bold economic reforms that has culminated in the flag off of the financial inclusion free training programme for 10 million women and youths in Nigeria.
He said the decision to embark on the project was prompted by visible improvements in the economy as a result of the gains of the Federal Government’s policy reforms.
Yahaya assured the vice-president of their professional support in the realisation of set objectives, describing their involvement in the project as an institutional honour.
On his part, the CEO of WAWU Africa, the technical partners in the programme, Mr Emmanuel Lennox, assured the Federal Government of the company’s readiness to deliver on the project, particularly in providing the digital platform and overall enabling environment for its success.
Also, explaining why the training of 10 million Nigerians on financial inclusion had become necessary, the Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr. Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, said: “Exclusion is not only by lack of access, but by limited skills, weak institutional capacity, and insufficient professional support.
“Consequently, financial inclusion is not achieved by infrastructure alone; it is achieved when people and institutions are equipped to use that infrastructure responsibly, productively, and sustainably.”
The high point of the event was the signing of the MoU for the capacity building programme by the Federal Government and the six professional bodies.
A Nigerian man has gone viral after he chose to spend a year in prison after spending part of N1.5 billion that was accidentally sent to him.
If you’ve ever had money accidentally drop into an account, be it a bank account, savings, or even PayPal, it can cause a fair amount of stress.
You’re better off returning it than holding onto it.
However, Ojo Eghosa Kingsley decided to spend the money after it dropped into his account.
Kingsley, however, didn’t just receive a small chunk of change.
According to the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), he received N1.5 billion into his account, which is around $1.1 million dollars.
As per the police’s report, the money had been split into different accounts, some in the name of Kingsley himself, and others belonging to his mother and sister.
After entering a guilty plea, he was offered a one-year prison sentence or a fine of N5 million – around $35,000.
Kingsley chose to spend a year in prison over the erroneously accredited money, also promising to “be of good behaviour going forward.” He was ultimately charged with “one count of bordering on stealing” by the EFCC.
He was also ordered to return the money, in which prosecutors noted that he had spent some of it already – as well as transferring it through different accounts.
The bank had managed to recover almost the full amount, save for a few thousand Naira.
Kingsley’s story has gone viral on social media, with many jokingly agreeing that they’d do the same thing if such a large sum ended up in their bank account.
Credit: ww.dexerto.com
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued warnings regarding the activities of AURUM BOT and ModMount Services Limited.
The apex regulator of the capital market flagged both entities for operating without the necessary legal licenses and for exhibiting high-risk characteristics typically associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes.
This SEC’s newest move in 2026 is part of the regulator’s broader crackdown on unregistered digital asset platforms that lure retail investors through social media with promises of “guaranteed” or “unrealistically high” returns.
In separate statements, the SEC said its attention has been drawn to the activities of AURUM BOT, “which presents itself as an investment platform dealing with cryptocurrency in Nigeria.”
The Commission reiterated that transacting in the Nigerian Capital Market with unregistered and unregulated entities exposes investors to financial risk, including fraud and potential loss of investment.
“The Commission hereby informs the public that AURUM BOT is not registered or licenced by the Commission to either solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market”.
“Investigations have revealed that AURUM BOT has been actively promoted on social media platforms and online forums. Furthermore, its operations exhibit characteristics commonly associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes,” SEC said.
SEC advises the public to refrain from investing with AURUM BOT in respect of any business pertaining or relating to the Nigerian capital market “as any investment activity carried out by them in Nigeria is illegal, and any person who engages with the platform does so at his/her own risk”.
Also, the SEC said its attention has been drawn to the activities of an online investment platform known as ModMount Services Limited, “which holds itself out as a financial services provider and Contract for Difference (CFD) broker offering investment opportunities in forex, stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies”.
According to SEC, “Investigations by the Commission have revealed that the operators of ModMount Services Limited claim that the company is incorporated in Seychelles and authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles.
“In addition, the entity solicits funds from members of the Nigerian public and encourages investors to remit monies through bank accounts domiciled in Nigeria. The Commission has also received information indicating complaints of withdrawal difficulties, aggressive solicitation practices, and other conducts inconsistent with fair market practices,” SEC noted.
SEC said that ModMount Services Limited is not registered or licensed by the Commission to either solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market.
“Accordingly, the public is advised to refrain from investing with ModMount Services Limited in respect of any business pertaining or relating to the Nigerian capital market as any investment activity carried out in Nigeria is illegal, and any person who engages with the entity or its representatives does so at his/her own risk,” SEC noted.
New Study Reveals How Moniepoint Powers Nigeria’s Downstream Oil Sector with Same-Day Settlements and Working Capital Boost
OADC Lagos Reinforces Commitment to Local Data Hosting and Digital Transformation @ NDPC’s National Privacy Week Summit
Firm Gives Advice on How to Stay Secure as AI, robots and VR are Redefining Family Life
FG Signs MoU with ICAN, CIBN, Others to Train 10m Nigerians in Financial Literacy
Corporate Comms in the Age of Crypto: Why Nigeria’s Digital Finance Future Depends on Trust
19 Nigerian Banks Meet CBN Recapitalization Targets Ahead of March Deadline
Youth Talent Takes Center Stage as T2 Ignites High-Octane Rap Battles @ Carnival Calabar
Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation Wrapped Up 2025 with Real Change in Governance, Health, Media Across Africa
Showmax Unlocks Easier Payments for Nigerian Subscribers via Baxi
Nigerian Terra Industries Secures $11.8m for Expansion
Telecom3 days agoTelecom Operators Invest Over $1Bn on 2,850 New Sites in 2025 – NCC
E-Financial3 days agoIf Capital is the Answer, What Exactly is the Problem with First Holdco
E-Financial3 days agoAmaanah Finance to Unveils Non-Interest Banking Services Today
News3 days agoNSCDC Hands over Fake Crypto Currency Trader to EFCC
General News3 days agoFirst Trustees to Host 8th Islamic Estate Planning Clinic in Abuja
News3 days agoAlakija’s Flourish Africa Provides N300m Grants for Women Entrepreneurs
E-Financial2 days agoAccidental Billionaire Opts for Jail Instead of Returning Money Credited Him by Mistake
General News3 days agoSecurity Forces Probe Use of Drones by Terrorists