Lawyer Shares Steps To Recover Money After Transferring It To Wrong Bank Account, Advises Nigerians
- A young Nigerian lawyer has advised Nigerians on what to do after sending money to the wrong bank account
- The lawyer mentioned that the bank is not at fault, as she spoke about the relationship between banks and customers
- At the end of the video, she mentioned what would happen to money wrongly sent within a few days
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Just as some Nigerians lamented online after mistakenly sending a large amount of money to the wrong bank account, a Nigerian lawyer has explained the easy steps people can take to recover their money after mistakenly sending it to the wrong bank account.
She said a lot of Nigerians have been affected by the issue of erroneous transfers and explained in detail what needs to be done by the affected person.
Source: TikTok
Lawyer speaks on error transfer, advises Nigerians
The lawyer, @datblacklawyer_, made it clear that the reason why money sent to another account is processed by the bank is because of the customer-bank relationship, and a bank can't be blamed when a customer mistakenly sends money to another account.
She, however, explained that the customer can take certain steps, and with this, the person would get back his or her money within days.
Speaking in the TikTok video, the lawyer advised Nigerians:
"Today I want to talk about something that at least 60 percent of us might have experienced or encountered. At least 60 percent of us, it has happened to us one time or the other, and what's that? Erroneous transfer
"That is when you wrongfully or mistakenly transfer money to a different account number.
"It is not a joke. When such a thing happens, what do you do?
"First of all, what you do is calm down because your bank owes you this duty in a customer-bank relationship to credit the account you provide for them. So the truth of the matter is your bank is not even at fault.
"They transferred the money to who you instructed them to transfer it to. You inform your bank and even if you inform your bank, they'll still tell you what you'll do."
Speaking about the most important step that needs to be taken to get the money reversed, she shared:
"You have to contact your lawyer, then your lawyer will file a motion in court, most times at the Magistrate Court, for a motion for reversal.
"You have to put both the bank and the person on notice. The court will hear the motion and make an order. It is now the court order that you have to print and take to the bank for the bank to reverse the money."
Source: TikTok
When this is done, @datblacklawyer_ explained that the money would be reversed within days because the person or account it was mistakenly transferred to is not the rightful owner.
She concluded:
"So your money is not automatically gone when you make that transfer, but it might be gone if you don't take this procedure. When you get a court order and take it to them, within a few days, your money will be reversed back to you because the person is not the owner of the money and they're not entitled to it."
Watch the video detailing how Nigerians can recover money mistakenly sent to the wrong bank account.
After speaking with the lawyer in the story, Legit.ng asked her a series of questions to further provide readers with the steps to take after an erroneous transfer and what to do and what not to do.
When asked about the duration or time it takes to obtain a court order after an erroneous transfer has been made, Okolie Veronica Amarachi, the lawyer, said:
"Because you don't have to go through a motion on notice. When you file, you serve the parties so they are put on notice. Before the hearing of the motion, the other party or their counsel has the opportunity to come and say whether there was an erroneous transfer or not. But if they don't come, the motion will still be heard, provided it was properly served on the bank and the person's bank. Definitely, the bank will put the person on notice."
"So once the motion is heard and the court grants the order for reversal, you obtain the order and then take it to the bank so they can reverse the money. Give or take, it will probably take within one month or less. Within one month or less, because the court will not be fixing your matter every day. So, let's just say within one month or less. That's the better answer."
Speaking on the legal consequences the recipient of the erroneous transfer could face if the person refuses to refund the money, she shared:
"The truth is that they cannot refuse to return the funds because, first of all, if you are able to get a court order, and you serve them with the motion on notice, and no counsel appears for them, all you have to show is proof of service that they were served, and the motion is heard and granted."
"What the court wants to be concerned about is that this motion for reversal is brought to their notice. The court wants to be very sure, to avoid the person raising the issue of fair hearing, that they were put on notice that someone has filed a motion for the reversal of money transferred erroneously to their account. If there is proof of service in the court file, the court will hear the motion and grant it."
"With the court order, they don't need your permission before the money is returned. The bank will definitely reverse the money from your account. You have a BVN, so even if you move it from that account to another account, you can still be traced. That money will be sent back. The most important thing is that there is a court order. Once there is a court order, they will place a post-no-debit restriction on the account until the money is refunded. So there is no way to escape it. It's not like the old days. There is no way you can refuse to refund money that is not yours."
On the common mistakes people make when trying to recover money sent to the wrong account, she explained:
"Trying to call those people and plead with them to return the money you sent. Most Nigerians are suffering, so when they see free money, they are not going to refund it just like that. Most people are also greedy. Even if they have more than that amount, they will still not refund it to you."
"So one mistake people make, especially when it is one of these mobile banking apps where the phone number is also the account number, is calling the recipient and saying, 'Oh please, I'm sorry. Can you refund it?' They will not. Just don't call them. Go through the normal process. Go through the prescribed legal process."
"Also, if it is an amount that is less than N10,000, your mistake may be trying to recover it because before you can file a motion on notice, mobilise a bailiff to serve the processes and obtain the court order, you might have spent more than that. So when you see that the money is very small, just leave it."
She added:
"Another mistake is trying to recover every erroneous transfer. No, it's not every amount of money you should try to recover through the courts."
"As for any other legal advice I would like to share with Nigerians on preventing or handling erroneous bank transfers, the first is to keep your receipts."
"File your application on time because there is always a time limit. File it on time. Make sure you serve the bank so the recipient is put on notice."
"So that is basically it. And just be careful generally when making transfers. Be very, very careful. Recently, I also made an erroneous transfer, and luckily, I sent it to someone I had transacted with several times before. I recognised her name, called her, and she sent the money back."
"So generally, be careful. But when it happens, file the motion on time and start the recovery process as soon as possible. Thank you."
In a similar story, Legit.ng reported that a Nigerian man mistakenly transferred N35,000 to the wrong bank account while carrying out a transaction.
He said he tried to contact the recipient to request a refund, but the person allegedly blocked his phone number.
Man returns money sent to his account
Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently reported that a Nigerian man mistakenly transferred a large amount of money to the wrong OPay account. After discovering the mistake, he quickly contacted the owner of the account and explained what had happened.
The recipient later refunded the money to him, and the incident sparked mixed reactions from many Nigerians on social media.
Source: Legit.ng
