A businessman, known as AIS_Savita on an X post on Tuesday, lodged a complaint against Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, alleging the restriction of his account holding a credit balance of N700m.
He called on the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to intervene promptly.
In a video shared on Tuesday, AIS_Savita highlighted that he had conducted transactions totalling nearly N700m with Moniepoint MFB within four months before his account was inexplicably restricted.
He stated that several attempts to ascertain the reason for the restriction were unsuccessful.
Presenting evidence from his transaction history, AIS_Savita emphasised the absence of any irregular transaction as claimed by Moniepoint MFB.
He expressed concerns that such actions by the bank could adversely affect his business operations and demanded transparency and accountability.
AIS_Savita urged the CBN and EFCC to investigate the matter thoroughly, asserting that Moniepoint MFB’s actions could constitute financial fraud.
He cautioned other account holders to remain vigilant and called for greater scrutiny of the bank’s practices to prevent similar incidents.
“I have transacted almost N700m in less than four months with Moniepoint Nigeria, but my account was suddenly restricted without any reason given.
“I believe this is a case of massive financial fraud and I demand that the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission investigate. MoneyPoint Nigeria has been rolling down business accounts, restricting them without any justifiable reason, and I am not alone in this experience”, he tweeted.
- _Savita (@smartakukoma) / X (twitter.com), showed the transaction history and other financial details between him and Moniepoint Nigeria while claiming that his business account was just restricted to fail his customers. “So, why will you wake up early morning and decide to restrict an account, a business account?”
Speaking in the video evidence seen and monitored by PUNCH Online, he said, “Dear CBN, dear EFCC, it’s time you look at Moniepoint and what they have been doing with businesses. They have been running down businesses and restricting business accounts.
“I woke up on Sunday, suddenly around 1:57 a.m. on the 14th of April when Moniepoint restricted my account and sent me a message that my account was restricted.
“It was on a Sunday morning and I waited till Monday. I called them. Why did you restrict my account? They couldn’t give me any reason for restricting my account. I reached out to them again many times they could not give me a reason. They only told me that I should wait until the investigation was going on. I waited for so long. I have to write them on X right here.
“Here is the Moniepoint chat trend. They said that “an erroneous transaction of 965,000 445 occurred in my account on the 9th of April”. I said all right. Is there any information you need me to provide for you to unrestrict my account so that I can continue my business? They did not give me any feedback. They only said that I should wait. I said Okay. I have to check my account statements.”
Efforts by our correspondent to get the reactions of the CBN remained unsuccessful as both calls and messages sent to the Acting Director of Corporate Communications, CBN, Hakama Sidi-Ali; and the Assistant Director, Lekan Ajayi, were not successful.
Punch Online checks on @moneypoint Nigeria showed that the lender responded to AIS_Savita, apologising, ”for the inconvenience caused.”
“Hello there, we are sorry about the experience with your account and for the inconvenience caused.
“As discussed via DM, your account was flagged for a transaction. The lien will be reviewed after the reconciliation and feedback provided. Thank you for your patience”, Moniepoint wrote on his X handle at @Moniepoint Nigeria.
[Punch]