Banking
Businessman Loses Billions of Naira, Properties to First Bank
By Dipo Olowookere
Properties worth millions of Naira and money worth billions of Naira have been lost to First Bank by a businessman and owner of SmartMicro, Mr Michael Obasuyi Osasogie.
The items, which include a total of 116 cars and 20 landed properties scattered in Edo, Rivers and Lagos States, were seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and handed over to the financial institution on Wednesday, November 28, 2018.
Trouble began for Mr Osasogie after a petition he wrote to the anti-corruption agency against E-tranzact in March 2018.
The commission had, however, investigated Mr Osasogie’s business interests, following receipt of a counter-petition written by e-tranzact against him and one of his companies, SmartMicro.
SmartMicro was said to have approached e-tranzact in 2012 for the deployment of bulk purchase solution called “Corporatepay” to facilitate payment of salaries of Delta State employees in microfinance banks.
It was also alleged that e-tranzact configured an additional outbound fund transfer solution called “Fundgate” in 2017, which required SmartMicro to maintain a pre-funded settlement account with First Bank Plc for settlement of account it had initiated.
However, e-tranzact had further alleged that the bank, sometime in March 2018, revealed that the settlement account was in debit of N11,498,944,038.29.
Mr Osasogie, in his statement to the EFCC, confessed to have committed the crime, stating that he created fraudulent and imaginary monies through the aid of Fundgate Financial Application from the company.
Consequently, Mr Osasogie was arraigned alongside his firms-Platinum Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society, SmartMicro Systems Limited and Platinum Smart Cruise Motors Limited on May 24, 2018 before Justice Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja on a 14-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N11.5 billion.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Michael Obasuyi Osasogie, Platinum Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society, SmartMicro Systems Limited and Platinum Smart Cruise Motors Limited, sometime in the year 2016 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired to commit felony, to wit: stealing of the sum of N11,498, 944, 038.29 property of First Bank Nigeria Ltd.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against.
During his trial, an investigator with the EFCC, Orji Chukwuma, had told the court how the proceeds of crime were housed in some new generation banks.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, Chukwuma had told the court that “SmartMicro Systems Limited assumed a position of a fictitious microfinance bank in Nigeria through a software, Micro switch Server 1.1 created by the defendant as well as two genuine microfinance banks, which he used to carry out his fraud.
“The defendant later opened an account with First Bank Plc and subsequently raised an overdraft from his fictitious microfinance bank for his account in the bank, which it ignorantly paid.”
In his further testimony, the witness had told the court that when e-tranzact disconnected from the chain, all the transactions carried out by the defendant collapsed on his own account with First Bank, thereby leading to the discovery of the fraud.
The sums of N2,903,727,563.92, $37,992.87 and €18,538.09 were recovered by the commission from Mr Osasogie’s accounts in various banks in the country.
The agency also recovered 116 cars and 20 properties located in Lagos, Abuja, Benin and Port Harcourt.
The prosecution counsel had, therefore, urged the court to convict the defendant on counts one to 14, according to the law.
The defendant later entered into plea bargain. The prosecution counsel therefore urged the court to consider the plea bargain entered into by the defendant on May 21, 2018 as judgment in his sentencing.
Counsel to the first and second defendant, Osasu Ogebor, had told the court that his clients went into a plea bargain in order to give out what does not belong to him.
“It is not enough for the accused person to say I am sorry for what he has done. But from his inner heart, he is absolutely sorry, my Lord”, Ogebor had pleaded.
Counsels to the third and fourth defendants also aligned themselves with Ogebor’s prayers.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Dada convicted the defendant on all the counts and sentenced him to one-year imprisonment.
The Judge also ordered the forfeiture of defendant’s 116 buses, 20 properties and monies in various accounts to First Bank Plc.
At the hand- over ceremony, which held in one of the forfeited houses at Osapa London, Lekki-Lagos, Kaina Garba, Head Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Management Unit of the EFCC, Lagos office, handed over the documents and keys to the properties to Gabriel Edobor, Head, Remedial and Classified Assets Management Department, First Bank Plc and Eme Godwin, Group Head, Legal Unit, E-transact.
In a show of appreciation, both Edobor and Godwin thanked the EFCC for ensuring the recovery of the properties through diligent and uncompromising investigative efforts.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has denied reports that customers performing financial transactions would pay a Value Added Tax (VAT) of 7.5 per cent from January 19, 2026.
Information about this emanated from messages sent out to customers of a financial institution, informing them of the new development in compliance of Nigeria’s new tax laws, especially the Nigeria Tax Act 2025.
It was claimed that Nigerians, as part of efforts of the government to generate more funds from taxes, would begin to pay VAT for the use of banking services like USSD and others.
But reacting in a statement signed by its management on Thursday, January 15, 2026, the tax collecting agency emphasised that the VAT collection for such services was not new.
It stressed that customers have always paid taxes for electronic money transfers and others, as this is charged on the fee, not from the main amount of the transaction.
“The Nigeria Revenue Service wishes to address and correct misleading narratives circulating in sections of the media suggesting that Value Added Tax (VAT has been newly introduced on banking services, fees, commissions, or electronic money transfers. This claim is categorically incorrect.
“VAT has always applied to fees, commissions, and charges for services rendered by banks and other financial institutions under Nigeria’s long-established VAT regime. The Nigeria Tax Act did not introduce VAT on banking charges, nor (sic) did it impose new tax obligation on customers in this regard.
“The Nigeria Revenue Service urges members of the public and all stakeholders to disregard misinformation and to rely exclusively on official communications for accurate, authoritative, and up-to-date tax information,” the statement read.
Business Post reports that what this basically means is that if a customer sends N10,000 and the bank charges N50 for the service, a 7.5 per cent VAT on the N50, which is N3.75, would be paid by the sender, not N750, which is 7.5 per cent of N10,000.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian-born payments company, Paystack, has announced its entry into the banking sector with the launch of Paystack Microfinance Bank (Paystack MFB) after the acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank.
The bank continues Paystack’s push into consumer products and adds a banking layer to its business-focused payment product, coming ten years after the company was founded with the goal of simplifying payments for businesses using modern technology.
In Nigeria alone, the company says its systems process trillions of Naira every month, supporting more than 300,000 businesses and millions of customers. According to Paystack, this growth highlighted a broader need beyond payments, prompting the decision to build a more comprehensive financial offering.
Paystack MFB will begin lending to businesses before expanding to consumers. It will also offer banking-as-a-service (BaaS) products to companies building financial products and treasury management products.
The company explained that while payments are a critical part of the financial journey, businesses and individuals increasingly require a full financial operating system. This includes the ability to store money securely, move funds easily, gain clarity from financial data, and access tools that support long-term growth. Developers, Paystack added, also need reliable, secure, and compliant infrastructure to build new financial solutions efficiently.
To address these needs, Paystack said it has established Paystack Microfinance Bank as a separate and independent entity from Paystack Payments Limited.
The new microfinance bank operates with its own license, governance structure, and product roadmap, although it will work closely with its sister company.
“By adding Paystack MFB to our family of brands, we’re finding the right balance through combining the rapid innovation of a tech-first platform with the stability of traditional banking,” said Ms Amandine Lobelle, Paystack’s chief operating officer.
Last year, it launched its controversial consumer payments app Zap, and now it is taking a step further with the company securing regulatory backing to become a deposit-taking institution. According to a statement, the bank will be guided by the same principles that shaped Paystack’s early success, including reliability, simplicity, transparency, and trust.
Paystack MFB has begun operations with a small group of early members and plans a gradual rollout to more businesses and individuals. The company also announced the opening of a waitlist for interested users and confirmed it is recruiting a dedicated team to help build its long-term banking infrastructure.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has helped First Bank of Nigeria to recover the sum of N802.4 million from a suspect, Mr Kingsley Eghosa Ojo, who unlawfully took possession of over N1.3 billion belonging to the bank.
The funds were handed over the financial institution by the Benin Zonal Directorate of the anti-money laundering agency on Monday, January 12, 2026, a statement on Tuesday confirmed.
First Bank approached the EFCC for the recovery of the money through a petition, claiming that the suspect received the money into his account after system glitches.
The commission in its investigation; discovered that the suspect, upon the receipt of the money, transferred a good measure of it to the bank accounts of his mother, Mrs Itohan Ojo and that of his sister, Ms Edith Okoro Osaretin, and committed part of the money to completion of his building project and the funding of a new flamboyant lifestyle.
With the recovery of the money from the identified bank accounts, the EFCC handed it over in drafts to First Bank.
While handing over the lender, the acting Director for the Directorate, Mr Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad, stressed his organisation would continue to discharge its mandate effectively in the overall interests of society.
“The EFCC Establishment Act empowers us to trace and recover proceeds of crime and restitute the victim. In this case, First Bank was the victim and that is exactly what we have done.
“We will continue to discharge our duties to ensure that fraudsters do not benefit from fraud and that economic and financial crimes are nipped in the bud,” he said.
In his response, the Business Manager for First Bank in Benin City, Mr Olalere Sunday Ajayi, who received the drafts on behalf of the bank, commended the EFCC for the swiftness and the professionalism it brought to bear in the handling of the matter and expressed the bank’s gratitude to the commission.
He described the EFCC as one of Nigeria’s most effective and reliable institutions.
Meanwhile, Mr Kingsley and all other suspects in the matter have been charged to court for stealing by the EFCC.
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