Ex-Bank MD jailed 5 years for steahhzgyvujhbkgcling ₦32 million and sending part of it to a man.

Grace Andreas Karka, former Managing Director of Bonghe Microfinance Bank, has been sentenced to five years in prison for misappropriating N32 million from her own bank and transferring part to a man identified as Prince Moses Batalu.

Justice Benjamin Lawan Manji of the Adamawa State High Court, Yola, found Karka guilty of criminal conspiracy and ch+ating after the EFCC proved she diverted the funds between August 2020 and March 2021.

The EFCC stated that Karka moved large sums from the bank’s First Bank account (No. 201****57) to accounts linked to Batalu, who was not a bank customer. The fraud was uncovered during an internal audit, which revealed suspicious transfers and missing funds. Failed recovery attempts led the bank to report the matter to the EFCC.

During the trial, EFCC counsel presented witnesses and documents connecting Karka to the theft, while her defense called three witnesses in her favor.

Justice Manji ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, sentencing Karka to five years imprisonment, with an option of ₦3 million fine per count, to run concurrently. She was also ordered to refund N29.8 million to the bank.

The case, filed under the Adamawa State Penal Code Law of 2018, exposed how the former bank chief abused her office for personal gain.

Nigeria’s 2 million banking agents must choose between Moniepoint, Opay, PalmPay by April 2026.

If you are one of Nigeria’s two million banking agents holding on to a Moniepoint, OPay, or PalmPay POS terminals, it might be time to return at least two. From April 1, 2026, Point of Sale agents must be exclusive to one principal, i.e., banks, mobile money operators, microfinance banks, and payment service banks, as part of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new agent banking rules.

The new guidelines, released on October 6, 2025, mark the most comprehensive regulatory overhaul since agent banking began in 2013. The rules were designed to “provide minimum standards for the regulation and operations of agent banking in Nigeria, enhance agent banking as a delivery channel for offering financial services to drive financial inclusion; and encourage responsible market conduct and improve service quality in the operations of Agent banking,” the CBN said in its circular.

Banking agents, better known as Point-of-sale (PoS) operators, who have long operated across multiple platforms to serve customers of different banks, will now be allowed to work with only one principal (a bank, microfinance institution, payment service bank, or mobile money operator) or one licenced super agent.

Banks, fintechs, and other principals must publish an updated list of their agents with location on their websites. The rules aim to enhance the enforcement of the new daily withdrawal limits of ₦1.2 million ($816.18) and location restrictions on banking agents, as the CBN intensifies its oversight of the country’s rapidly growing agent banking sector.

Principals must now ensure that agent banking services are clearly demarcated from merchant activities and monitor agents’ BVN(s) to identify activities outside their designated account(s) and limits. Agents must now maintain records of all transactions and promptly report suspicious ones and incidents to their principals. The CBN can now, at any time, bypass principals and ask agents directly for their records.

The industry has six months to comply, a move that could reshape Nigeria’s financial services distribution network and affect millions of daily cash transactions across urban and rural communities.

How Enugu ponzi scheme operator diverted N91.5m through fake microfinance bank Witness.

A prosecution witness on Friday revealed before the Federal High Court in Enugu how Chinedu Okoronkwo, alleged Ponzi scheme operator, diverted more than N91.5 million from unsuspecting investors through a purported microfinance bank that was neither licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) nor insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

Okoronkwo, alongside his company, Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited, is standing trial before Justice F. O. Giwa-Ogunbanjo on a 36-count charge bordering on forgery, obtaining money by false pretence, and operating banking activities without a valid licence.

The case is being prosecuted by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

According to a statement by Dele Oyewale, EFCC Spokesman, at Friday’s proceedings, the prosecution presented its ninth witness, Abubakar Abubakar, an operative of the EFCC, who detailed how the defendant used falsified credentials and church connections to lure victims.

According to Abubakar, a letter of enquiry sent to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that Reliance Microfinance Cooperative Society Limited was not licensed to operate as a microfinance bank.

He further confirmed that the firm was also not insured by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), as shown in a letter dated October 25, 2024, admitted in evidence as Exhibit 44.

The EFCC witness explained that Okoronkwo began scouting for investors within his church community, convincing worshippers to put money into what later turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

“An analysis of the company’s bank statements tendered as exhibits revealed that the firm received N69.85 million through its Guaranty Trust Bank account (No. 0209253844) and an additional N21.7 million through its United Bank for Africa account, all from unsuspecting victims”, the Commission said.