Can someone be prosecuted for spending money, credited into his account in error?
By Runsewe Solomon
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Spending any money wrongly credited to your account could lead to you being charged with ‘retaining wrongful credit’ under the Theft Act 1968. You could be guilty of an offence if a wrongful credit is made to your account and: You know the credit has been made incorrectly. The Hope Classics spoke with legal practitioners and concerned stakeholders on the matter. Excerpts;

We all dream of receiving an unexpected windfall, but what are your rights if you receive an accidental payment into your bank account? We explain all the rules.
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There’s plenty of ways you can end up with an accidental windfall in your current account, whether it’s a banking error, an incorrect tax rebate, or even an overpayment from your employer. It sounds like a dream come true, but can you keep the cash?
In a nutshell, no. Legally, if a sum of money is accidentally paid into your bank or savings account and you know it doesn’t belong to you, then you must pay it back.
Why you can’t keep accidental payments
Keeping any money wrongly credited to your account could lead to you being charged with ‘retaining wrongful credit’ under the Theft Act 1968.

If money is incorrectly transferred into your account, you should notify your bank. Your bank will then try to return the money to the sender. You should not spend or withdraw the money transferred into your account by mistake because it is not legally yours and you have to pay it back.
You may not go to jail, but you may face scrutiny and harassment in the name of investigation, surveillance, etc. The Police may call you several number of time to get leads or survey you. Your best action is to not only inform the bank, but also the police.

It can be prosecuted if you spent it. It’s not your money. Any such money should be reported to the bank or EFCC.
They can’t remove it without your consent. You can now settle down for percentage from them with your lawyer that one no be offence.

Yes, when a bank or individual accidentally paid money into your account.
If you are overpaid by your employer
What you should do with the money instead
If you receive an unexpected payment into your account, you should always inform your bank immediately.
Waiting for the bank to notice their mistake could take weeks, and during that time the temptation to spend will be harder to resist.
Think about how you would feel if the roles were reversed, and it was your money sitting in someone else’s account.
Even if the money is from your employer or from the taxman, you still need to let your bank know. If it’s your bosses, you might also want to flag the issue to them to stop it happening again.
What happens if you do keep the money?
Typically, you’ll be asked to pay back the cash. You could also be jailed if you splash the cash when you know it’s not yours. According to the Theft Act 1968, the maximum sentence is ten years in prison.

Keeping any money wrongly credited to your account could lead to you being charged with ‘retaining wrongful credit’ under the Theft Act 1968. You could be guilty of an offence if a wrongful credit is made to your account and: … You don’t take steps to cancel the credit.

Acting as a money mule is illegal and punishable, even if you aren’t aware you’re committing a crime.
If you are a money mule, you could be prosecuted and incarcerated as part of a criminal money laundering conspiracy. Some of the federal charges you could face include mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
Serving as a money mule can also damage your credit and financial standing. Additionally, you risk having your own personally identifiable information stolen and used by the criminals you are working for, and you may be held personally liable for repaying money lost by victims.

Of course.. The word error has settled it all.
If such occurs, the appropriate thing to do is to contact your bank.
If by error too, you have spent it, you will refund, and failure to do so can be prosecuted.
In the first place,,,is the money meant for you?
If the answer is in the negative, then that is stealing by virtue of section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State,2006.

You could be guilty of an offence if a wrongful credit is made to your account and:
You know the credit has been made incorrectly, You don’t take steps to cancel the credit.
What not to do when money appears in your account.
No matter how tempting it is, don’t immediately go out and spend the money. Some people think that if the cash is gone then it’s too late, but in reality, you will be liable to pay it back anyway, even if it’s no longer in your account.

Legally, if you received money in error and you know that it is not yours, then you must pay it back. If you receive money and you can put forward a credible argument as to why you should keep it – that it is a reasonable return for services rendered – that’s a different situation.

The right to own an account is the fundamental right of every citizen of Nigeria, this is enshrined in Section 43 of the 1999 constitution as amended, bank accounts fall within this category but it is a liquid asset; that is, an intangible property, once an individual opens an account with any bank of his choice, he becomes automatically a customer of the said bank, this eventually creates a customer / bank relationship with certain rights, duties and privileges attached.
This exclusive right permits the owner to perform transactions of any kind with his account. The protective features on every account disallows the fraudsters to hack anybody’s account without the disclosure of any of these: Bank Verification Number (BVN), Transaction Password, Card Details, Account number, Token Password, Pin Number.
The first step to take when money is wrongly transferred into a wrong account is to report to your bank which will then trace the owner of the bank account and the bank branch. However, it will be wrong for the bank to immediately place a restriction on such account. The bank will then notify the bank of the person who will then inform their customer whose account has been wrongly credited for a refund if he/ she agrees the money will be transferred and if not, the bank cannot forcefully move the money against his/ her consent but better to act on this by the order of a court – see GTB Plc v. Adedamola [2019] 5 NWLR (Pt. 1664) 30 at 43, paras. E-F, per Abubakar, JCA:
“Before freezing customer’s account or placing any form of restraint on any bank account, the bank must be satisfied that there is an order of court. By the provisions of Section 34(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, 2004, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has no power to give direct instructions to banks to freeze the account of a customer without an order of court, so doing constitutes a flagrant disregard and violation of the rights of a customer.”
The Court of Appeal had some words of advice for the Appellant and for all other financial institutions in this regard. If only they will listen. Abubakar, JCA preached:
“Our financial institutions must not be complacent, reticent and toothless in the face of brazen and reckless violence to the rights of their customers. Whenever there is a specific provision regulating the procedure of doing a particular act, that procedure must be followed.”
Another option is to go to the court to register a case, this can happen where the person refuses to refund the money wrongly paid into his/her account. The bank can look into the situation by putting the bank on notice about the transaction, after closely looking at the matter, the court can give an order asking the concerned bank for a refund. However, money wrongly transferred into another person’s account can be prosecuted, where the person who mistakenly transfers the money, places a demand on the other person who receives the money in error but if he refuses to release the money to the owner, that is, he prefers to hold on to the money or spends it on his personal aggrandizement, then, it becomes a criminal offence and so can be prosecuted. To this end, section 383 of the criminal code can now apply, take a look at the section:
A person who fraudulently takes anything capable of being stolen, or fraudulently converts to his own use or to the use of any other person anything capable of being stolen, is said to steal that thing.