Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has directed 54 financial institutions to immediately return a total of ₦9,329,322,870 that was fraudulently transferred from an undisclosed old-generation bank. The court issued the order on April 15, 2025, following an ex parte motion filed under suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.
The stolen funds, which were illicitly moved during a breach on March 23, 2025, were traced to numerous accounts across the 54 banks. In response, the court ordered a Post No Debit (PND) restriction on all accounts that received any portion of the funds. The banks are to begin the immediate return of all recoverable amounts to the originating bank.
According to court documents, the funds were syphoned off in multiple tranches from the affected bank’s core banking system, initially entering primary accounts and then being funnelled into secondary and tertiary accounts in an apparent laundering operation.
The plaintiff bank disclosed that it acted swiftly upon discovering the breach, alerting all receiving institutions and initiating fund-tracking procedures.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu mandated that all affected banks must disclose full details of the implicated accounts, including current balances and transaction histories. The banks are also required to share comprehensive customer information linked to the accounts involved, such as names and destination accounts.
The restrictions on the implicated accounts are to remain in place until the full recovery of the stolen funds is achieved. However, the judge clarified that the order only applies to the stolen sums and does not affect other legitimate deposits in the accounts.
