JUSTICE Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 54 banks to return a total of N9,329,322,870 fraudulently withdrawn by hackers from an old-generation bank.
This ruling, delivered on April 15, 2025, follows an ex parte motion filed under suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.
The court instructed the banks to immediately place a Post No Debit restriction on all accounts that received the stolen funds and to begin refunding all recoverable sums to the originating bank.
According to the plaintiff, on March 23, 2025, a cyberattack breached the bank’s core system, leading to unauthorized withdrawals from multiple customer accounts. The stolen amount—over N9.3 billion—was distributed across accounts held in 54 financial institutions.
The bank stated it swiftly notified the affected institutions and began tracing the disbursed funds. Investigations revealed the money was transferred in batches to primary accounts and later redirected to others held by secondary and tertiary recipients.
Justice Dipeolu ordered the banks to disclose full details of the implicated accounts, including current balances and amounts already moved. He also mandated the return of all traceable funds to the plaintiff bank.
Additionally, the banks must provide comprehensive customer information linked to the suspicious transactions, such as names and receiving accounts.
The judge directed that restrictions remain on all involved accounts until each receives only up to the amount stolen, emphasizing that the order applies solely to the fraudulently transferred funds and not other deposits.
“For clarity, this order pertains only to erroneously transferred funds and amounts recoverable,” the ruling stated.
Justice Dipeolu concluded that the stolen funds are the property of the plaintiff bank, not the customers of the defendant banks, and affirmed the court’s authority to enforce full restitution.
