Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered 54 banks to repay a total of N9,329,322,870 that hackers fraudulently moved from an undisclosed old-generation bank.
The judgement was issued on April 15, 2025, in response to an ex parte motion filed in suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.
The court ordered the financial institutions to impose a post-no-debit restriction on all accounts that received the stolen monies and to begin immediately returning any available funds to the issuing bank.
The plaintiff bank alleged that on March 23, 2025, a breach in its core banking system led to illegal debits from several customer accounts.
The stolen money, totalling over N9.3 billion, was then distributed to accounts in 54 banking institutions.
When the bank discovered the incident, it immediately notified the institutions involved and began tracking the disbursements.
The inquiry indicated that the cash was moved from the bank into main accounts in successive tranches before being diverted to accounts owned by secondary and tertiary beneficiaries.
Justice Dipeolu determined that the involved banks must furnish information about the linked accounts, including balances and sums previously moved.
The judge further ordered the prompt restoration of any recoverable cash to the plaintiff bank.
Financial institutions are also required to exchange detailed customer transaction data, such as identities and destination accounts.
Restrictions are to be imposed on all accounts that received any portion of the cash until full recovery is achieved, with each account limited to the amount received.
The court noted that the verdict only pertains to erroneously transmitted monies and has no bearing on other consumer deposits.
“For the avoidance of doubt and for clarity, the order is only in respect of funds erroneously transferred and sums salvaged,” the ruling emphasised.
Justice Dipeolu added that the stolen funds “belong to the plaintiff and not the customers of the respondent banks”, affirming the court’s authority to direct full restitution.
