By Anastasia John E .
The Federal High Court in Lagos has mandated 54 banks to immediately return a total of N9.3 billion (N9,329,322,870) fraudulently transferred by hackers from an unnamed old generation bank.
Justice Deinde Dipeolu issued the order on April 15, 2025, following an ex parte motion filed in suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.
The court directed the implicated financial institutions to place a Post No Debit (PND) restriction on all accounts that received the stolen funds. They are also required to immediately commence the return of all recoverable funds to the originating bank.
According to the plaintiff bank, a breach in its core banking system on March 23, 2025, led to unauthorised debits from numerous customer accounts. The stolen funds, exceeding N9.3 billion, were subsequently dispersed across accounts in the 54 banks.
The affected bank stated that upon discovering the cyber intrusion, it promptly notified the receiving institutions and initiated tracking of the fund movements. Investigations revealed that the funds were transferred in multiple stages from the originating bank to primary accounts and subsequently moved to accounts held by secondary and tertiary beneficiaries.
Justice Dipeolu ruled that the 54 banks must provide comprehensive details of the implicated accounts, including current balances and the amounts already transferred onward. The judge further ordered the immediate return of all recoverable funds to the plaintiff bank.
The financial institutions are also mandated to share complete customer data related to the fraudulent transactions, including names and destination account details.
The court ordered that the PND restrictions remain on all accounts that received any portion of the stolen funds until full recovery is achieved, limited to the amount each account received.
Justice Dipeolu clarified that the ruling specifically applies to the fraudulently transferred funds and does not affect other legitimate customer deposits within the respondent banks.
“For clarity, this order pertains solely to the erroneously transferred funds and any sums already recovered,” the ruling emphasized.
Justice Dipeolu concluded that the stolen funds “rightfully belong to the plaintiff bank and not the customers of the respondent banks,” thereby affirming the court’s power to order full restitution.
