Jola Omotoso, a Nigerian cryptocurrency trader, has accused Chukwuka Monye, an innovation strategist and former presidential aspirant, of refusing to refund $58,500 that he transferred to him by mistake on July 11, 2025.
Monye had contested the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primaries in 2023. Omotoso explained that the transfer was intended as a $1 test transaction, but he mistakenly sent the much larger sum to a wallet address provided by Monye.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, Omotoso said, “A sum of $58,500 was erroneously transferred to a wallet provided to the cryptocurrency company by a certain Dr. Chukwuka Monye.”
It was further narrated that “Chukwuka was an impending customer, and he had reached out with the intentions of buying a significant volume of USDT.”
“We discussed and fast forward to the fateful day, he requested a $1 test transfer, and he provided a wallet.”
Omotoso said “his wallet wrongly sent $58,500”.
“This error was immediately escalated to him, and he acknowledged and promised a refund. A $9 refund was effected, and since then, we have been met with lies and excuses,” Omotoso told SaharaReporters.
In a letter written by Abbey & Aderoju Associates on behalf of Omotoso to Monye on August 8, 2025, and signed by V.N. Jiya Esq., the company demanded a formal refund of the funds wrongly transferred.
It read, “We are solicitors to Mr Jolaebi Omotoso whom we shall hereinafter refer to as our client and we are writing to formally demand the immediate refund of the sum of $58,491 (Fifty Eight thousand Four hundred and Ninety One USD) being the balance payment from the original sum of $58,500 (Fifty Eight thousand Five hundred USD) which was mistakenly/erroneously transferred to your crypto wallet (a wallet you provided to our client) on the 11th day of July 2025.
“The funds were transferred in error and do not represent payment for any goods, services, or obligations owed to you. Despite previous communication and requests for the return of the said amount, you have failed or refused to remit the funds back.
“Our client wishes to communicate his position that following the erroneous transfer made to your wallet address on the 11th of July 2025, he would like to request a refund of the said crypto asset on or before the 11th of August 2025.
“This is in recognition that crypto transfers do not take more than a few minutes to process but in this case, you would have had a full month to do that. We understand that you mentioned some other parties are involved but we believe you’re in the best position to liaise with the said parties to initiate a refund.
“Our client does not see any reason to get involved with parties whose identities have always been unknown to him since he has never had any dealings with them.
“We hope that this letter conveys the urgency of the refund and also demonstrates how patient we have been with how much time we’ve afforded you on the matter.”
“We trust that you will treat this matter with the urgency and seriousness it deserves,” it stated.
While speaking to SaharaReporters, the accused, Monye, stated, “Please be informed that this matter is with the authorities as a number of resulting cases have emerged from this.”
Monye said he has been advised to let the law follow its course.
In a post on his Instagram, he also denied receiving money into his account.
He said, “Dr Monye was in a preliminary discussion with potential commodity trading clients when Mr Jola Omotosho of Crypto Jumbo was introduced to him as someone with capacity to support trades.
“A handshake transaction of US$1 was arranged to demonstrate trading capacity. The recipient was Ms Elizabeth Kioko, a commodity broker introduced for exploratory discussions.
“Instead of US$1 to be transferred to Ms Kioko account, Mr Jola Omotosho of Crypto Jumbo transferred $58,500.”
Monye denied ever receiving such money and denied having control of the account that received the funds.
He further said, “It is strange that Mr Jola Omotosho has neither escalated the situation to the platform to which the transfer was sent nor engaged other appropriate authorities. It is suspicious that he claims that a transfer of $58,500 was done in error instead of $1.”
In another statement, Monye said, “The account that received the funds does not belong to Dr. Monye, his employees or close associates and is completely outside of his control.
“Apparently, the account is not actively in use by Ms. Elizabeth Masila Kioko and has limited transaction activity, which is why the small test amount of $1 was not an issue.
“Due to the unusually high amount received, the cryptocurrency platform flagged attempts to return the money as suspicious, triggering security reviews and limitations. To the best of Dr. Monye’s knowledge, Ms. Elizabeth Masila Kioko has made efforts on several occasions to refund the funds, one of which Mr. Jola Omotoso was involved.”
“However, the transfer limits and the risk protocols put in place by the cryptocurrency platform have caused delays due to the transaction amount,” he added.