The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has reportedly launched an investigation into Bento Africa, a Nigerian human resources (HR) and payroll management company, for allegedly scamming companies that use its payroll service.
The alleged scam was brought to light in a post by Sultan Akintunde, Co-founder of AltSchool Africa, where he accused Bento of not remitting pay-as-you-earn tax (PAYE) to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS). Sultan claimed that despite collecting millions from companies, Bento was only remitting a token amount of 100 Naira to the LIRS.
Bento Africa’s CEO, Ebun Okunbanjo, has vehemently denied these allegations, calling Sultan’s post reckless and demanding proof of the claims. However, documents obtained by Techpoint Africa revealed that another company had a whopping ₦43.8 million in unremitted PAYE and pension funds.
According to the company, Bento Africa handles net salaries, pensions, and taxes by storing the funds in a “vault” and making payments over a two-week period. However, after an upgrade in 2023, several receipts and files went missing, causing discrepancies in the payments made.
In January 2024, the company discovered that some receipts were fake when trying to obtain a PENCOM certification. Subsequent investigations by LIRS revealed that a significant number of receipts from 2023 were invalid, indicating possible foul play by Bento Africa.
As a result, the affected company ceased working with Bento Africa and began making payments manually while searching for a new payroll provider. Legal action is now being considered against Bento Africa, with plans to settle outstanding dues with LIRS while seeking recovery from the payroll company.
Meanwhile, Okunbanjo maintains that Bento Africa has not engaged in any wrongdoing and plans to pursue legal action against AltSchool in the US, where both companies are registered. The situation has sparked an ongoing investigation by LIRS into Bento Africa’s practices, with multiple companies potentially affected by the scam dating back to 2023.
