₦airaland Forum

Court orders 54 banks to return N9.3bn stolen by hackers

Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 54 banks to immediately return a total of N9,329,322,870 fraudulently transferred by hackers from an unnamed old generation bank.

The judgment, delivered on April 15, 2025, follows an ex parte motion filed in suit number FHC/L/CS/629/2025.

The court directed the financial institutions to place a Post No Debit restriction on all accounts that received the stolen funds and to begin the immediate return of all available funds to the originating bank.

The plaintiff bank reported that on March 23, 2025, a breach in its core banking system resulted in unauthorised debits from multiple customer accounts.

The stolen funds—amounting to over N9.3bn—were then dispersed across accounts in 54 financial institutions.

Upon detection of the incident, the bank said it promptly alerted the institutions involved and began tracking the disbursements.

The investigation revealed that the funds were transferred in multiple tranches from the bank into primary accounts and subsequently rerouted to other accounts held by secondary and tertiary beneficiaries.


Justice Dipeolu ruled that the affected banks must provide details of the implicated accounts, including balances and amounts already transferred.

The judge further ordered the immediate return of all recoverable funds to the plaintiff bank.

The financial institutions are also to share comprehensive customer data related to the transactions, including names and destination accounts.

Restrictions are to be maintained on all accounts that received any portion of the funds until full recovery is made, limited to the amount each received.

The judge clarified that the ruling applies strictly to erroneously transferred funds and does not infringe on other customer 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 concluded 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.

omowolewa:
Great

Banks cannot absorb themselves from hackers actions especially when it done using transfer method.

This suggests there are alot to be done using technology and GPS in effectively managing KYC processes

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 54 banks to return over ₦9.3 billion that was stolen by hackers from an old-generation bank.

The money was stolen on March 23, 2025, when hackers broke into the bank’s system and moved money out of many customers' accounts.

The stolen money was sent to different bank accounts across 54 banks in Nigeria. The bank quickly found out and informed the other banks to help track and recover the money.

The court, led by Justice Deinde Dipeolu, ruled on April 15, 2025, that:

All the banks involved must freeze the accounts that received the money.

They must return all the money they can to the bank it was stolen from.

They must also provide full details of the accounts involved, including the names and where the money went.

The freeze on the accounts will remain until all the money is recovered.

The order only affects the stolen money and does not affect other customers' money in those accounts.

The judge made it clear: the money belongs to the bank that was hacked, not the people who received it by mistake.

omowolewa:
Great

Banks cannot absorb themselves from hackers actions especially when it done using transfer method.

This suggests there are alot to be done using technology and GPS in effectively managing KYC processes

BlueRayDick:
The unnamed old generation bank is Union Bank

olaolaking:
Correct! 80% of the time the bankers are involved. The banks work hard to deny responsibility for such. They will sit tight now and hacking will reduce

francis5051:
my man hacker are dangerous and can bypass all this you saying you can’t stop them o because hacking is more than cyber security

olaolaking:
Correct! 80% of the time the bankers are involved. The banks work hard to deny responsibility for such. They will sit tight now and hacking will reduce

AerialMapper:
This is a very faulty order which will affect innocent people!

So if a person commits fraud and patronises my business where I am unaware of his fraudulent activity and sell an item to him. My account is frozen by virtue of this transaction. If I then transfer money to my parents for their upkeep, their accounts are frozen as well?

This court order was not well thought out! There some be some level of investigation into the beneficiaries and legitimate businesses or individuals should not be made to suffer the actions of others but

This is Nigeria

Olayinka8793:
boss, do you remember me?
Well, I can never forget your username due to the favour you did me 5 or 6 years ago when you transfered 15k to me after coming across my story where I was defrauded and my bank account wiped.

God will continue to bless you wherever you are and continue to protect your sources of income.

Oscarchims:
They should pay into my account, I need money