The Federal High Court in Lagos has directed 54 banks to return a staggering N9,329,322,870 fraudulently transferred by hackers from an old generation bank.
Justice Deinde Dipeolu, who delivered the ruling on April 15, 2025, granted the orders following an ex parte application filed in suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.
The court also ordered an immediate Post No Debit restriction on all accounts linked to the theft.
According to court documents, the plaintiff bank revealed that on March 23, 2025, hackers breached its core banking system, executing unauthorised debits from multiple customer accounts and dispersing over N9.3bn across various financial institutions.
“The funds were systematically transferred in tranches from the bank into primary accounts and further rerouted into secondary and tertiary accounts across 54 banks,” the bank stated.
Upon detecting the breach, the bank promptly alerted all recipient banks and began tracing the money trail.
Justice Dipeolu ruled that all affected banks must disclose full details of the implicated accounts, including current balances and sums already moved out.
The judge further ordered the immediate refund of all traceable and recoverable funds to the plaintiff bank.
The ruling also mandates the banks to release full Know Your Customer (KYC) details of all parties involved, including names and destination accounts, to aid investigation and facilitate recovery.
“All recipient accounts must remain restricted up to the value of funds received until full restitution is made,” the judge ordered.
Justice Dipeolu clarified that the directive targets only the stolen funds and does not extend to unrelated customer deposits.
“For the avoidance of doubt and for clarity, the order is only in respect of funds erroneously transferred and sums salvaged,” the judgment read.
The judge emphasized that the stolen funds “belong to the plaintiff and not the customers of the respondent banks.”
