[Africa] LIRS investigates Bento Africa payroll and tax fraud allegations

In Nigeria, the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) has begun investigating Bento Africa - an HR and payroll management company - for what has been described as a scam on companies using its payroll service, Techpoint reports.

The alleged scam initially came to light via a Twitter post by Sultan Akintunde, co-founder of AltSchool Africa. 

In the tweet, Mr Akintunde reportedly claimed that Bento was not remitting PAYE tax to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).

In the January 24 tweet, Mr Akintunde said, "You [Bento] have been collecting millions from us but remitting 100 Naira to LIRS.

"These guys would remit ₦100, get a receipt for that, then forge a new receipt to match the main amount they were meant to remit and submit that."

Bento Africa CEO Ebun Okunbanjo denied the allegations, telling Techpoint Africa in an email that the posts were reckless and demanding proof of the allegations.

However, documents seen by Techpoint Africa reportedly reveal that another company, which asked for anonymity, had ₦43.8 million in unremitted PAYE tax and pensions.

According to the affected company, Bento Africa pays net salaries, pensions and taxes. Once all these monies are made available in the Bento wallet, salaries are paid immediately and other payments are made over two weeks with receipts being made available in a “vault”.

The company stated that these receipts and files were not readily available in 2023 after Bento Africa underwent an upgrade.

"They severally craved our indulgence on the matter when receipts were being requested. This was sorted out some months later as documents were being uploaded in bits to the vault," the company said.

In January 2024, the affected company learned that receipts were still missing when it tried to get a PENCOM certification. When they reached out to Bento Africa to ask for them, they didn't immediately receive a response.

When it finally replied, Bento said it was working internally to identify the issues.

The company reportedly gave Bento Africa the grace to do this but a spot check by LIRS in September 2024 showed there might have been foul play.

LIRS collected tax payment receipts but, according to the company, "they came back to us the following week to say that some of the receipts were fake and requested for our 2023 receipts, which we furnished them as well. It was also discovered that most of the 2023 receipts were fake."

Following this revelation, the company stopped working with Bento Africa and began making payments manually while it looked for a new payroll company.

In documents made available to Techpoint Africa, 12 PAYE receipts between January 2023 and September 2024, (₦ 27.9 million) were reportedly invalid and 12 months of pension  (₦15.8 million) between 2023 and 2024, were unremitted.

The company has indicated that it will take legal action against Bento Africa, it added that "cooperating with the LIRS, who has made us understand that there is an ongoing investigation on Bento and that we are not the only company affected in this scam dating from 2023 till date.

"We have also been made aware of the possibility of having to settle all outstanding owed to the LIRS while we seek recovery from Bento."

Mr Okubanjo, though acknowledging that Bento Africa has had some issues, insists the company has done no wrong. In addition, he has reportedly indicated intentions to sue AltSchool in the US, where both companies are registered.

Source: Techpoint

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Nigeria, the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) has begun investigating Bento Africa - an HR and payroll management company - for what has been described as a scam on companies using its payroll service, Techpoint reports.

The alleged scam initially came to light via a Twitter post by Sultan Akintunde, co-founder of AltSchool Africa. 

In the tweet, Mr Akintunde reportedly claimed that Bento was not remitting PAYE tax to the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS).

In the January 24 tweet, Mr Akintunde said, "You [Bento] have been collecting millions from us but remitting 100 Naira to LIRS.

"These guys would remit ₦100, get a receipt for that, then forge a new receipt to match the main amount they were meant to remit and submit that."

Bento Africa CEO Ebun Okunbanjo denied the allegations, telling Techpoint Africa in an email that the posts were reckless and demanding proof of the allegations.

However, documents seen by Techpoint Africa reportedly reveal that another company, which asked for anonymity, had ₦43.8 million in unremitted PAYE tax and pensions.

According to the affected company, Bento Africa pays net salaries, pensions and taxes. Once all these monies are made available in the Bento wallet, salaries are paid immediately and other payments are made over two weeks with receipts being made available in a “vault”.

The company stated that these receipts and files were not readily available in 2023 after Bento Africa underwent an upgrade.

"They severally craved our indulgence on the matter when receipts were being requested. This was sorted out some months later as documents were being uploaded in bits to the vault," the company said.

In January 2024, the affected company learned that receipts were still missing when it tried to get a PENCOM certification. When they reached out to Bento Africa to ask for them, they didn't immediately receive a response.

When it finally replied, Bento said it was working internally to identify the issues.

The company reportedly gave Bento Africa the grace to do this but a spot check by LIRS in September 2024 showed there might have been foul play.

LIRS collected tax payment receipts but, according to the company, "they came back to us the following week to say that some of the receipts were fake and requested for our 2023 receipts, which we furnished them as well. It was also discovered that most of the 2023 receipts were fake."

Following this revelation, the company stopped working with Bento Africa and began making payments manually while it looked for a new payroll company.

In documents made available to Techpoint Africa, 12 PAYE receipts between January 2023 and September 2024, (₦ 27.9 million) were reportedly invalid and 12 months of pension  (₦15.8 million) between 2023 and 2024, were unremitted.

The company has indicated that it will take legal action against Bento Africa, it added that "cooperating with the LIRS, who has made us understand that there is an ongoing investigation on Bento and that we are not the only company affected in this scam dating from 2023 till date.

"We have also been made aware of the possibility of having to settle all outstanding owed to the LIRS while we seek recovery from Bento."

Mr Okubanjo, though acknowledging that Bento Africa has had some issues, insists the company has done no wrong. In addition, he has reportedly indicated intentions to sue AltSchool in the US, where both companies are registered.

Source: Techpoint

(Quotes via original reporting)