Court Fines Firm N500,000 for Illegal BDC Operation in Lagos
A company, AP Mcnisi Initiatives Limited, has been convicted and fined N500,000 by the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, for operating a Bureau De Change business without a valid licence.
Justice D.I. Dipeolu delivered the judgment on Friday, February 20, 2026, after the firm pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions without approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The company was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ikoyi, on a charge bordering on unauthorised forex dealings.
The charge stated that the firm, on or about June 7, 2024, in Lagos, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction with one Adeoye Phillips Tomilola outside the official foreign exchange market and without a valid licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a Bureau De Change, contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment (Etc.) Act and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.
Upon arraignment, the company pleaded guilty to the charge.
Following the plea, prosecution counsel A.A. Usman reviewed the facts of the case through an EFCC operative, Bello Buhari Kobi.
Kobi told the court that the commission received a petition alleging that the defendant received N10,000,000 in its Guaranty Trust Bank account for conversion to $9,000 but failed to deliver the dollar equivalent to the complainant.
He said investigations revealed that the company was not licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to carry out Bureau De Change operations.
The operative further informed the court that Adekunle Fadibe Mcnisi, identified as the alter ego of the company, admitted during investigation that the firm had not obtained the required approval from the apex bank to operate as a BDC.
Kobi also disclosed that the defendant had refunded the complainant.
The prosecution tendered the petitioner’s letter, correspondence with the bank, the bank’s response and the extra-judicial statement of the company’s alter ego, all of which were admitted in evidence.
Consequently, Justice Dipeolu convicted the company and ordered it to pay a fine of N500,000. The court further ruled that in default of payment, assets of the company worth N500,000 would be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
