Court orders final forfeiture of funds recovered in banking system glitch fraud
Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has Court orders final forfeiture of N81m recovered in banking system glitch fraud
Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N81,108,143.80 recovered from a massive fraud involving a system glitch at Sterling Bank Plc.
The court’s ruling on Monday, March 9, 2026, followed an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The funds, which were identified as proceeds of unlawful activity, have been ordered forfeited to the Federal Government for subsequent return to the affected financial institution.
The case originated from a petition filed by Sterling Bank in July 2022, reporting that customers had exploited a system glitch, specifically within the PayAttitude Global Ltd banking platform to illegally transfer over N2.5 billion from accounts that lacked sufficient balances.
According to court filings, the scheme resulted in the unauthorized movement of billions of naira, much of which was moved into third-party accounts, including those belonging to associates and family members of primary suspects.
EFCC investigators traced the stolen funds across several banks, identifying accounts used to conceal the proceeds.
While the total volume of the fraud exceeded N2.5 billion, investigators confirmed that the bank was able to salvage a portion of the stolen assets, specifically the N81.1 million subject to Monday's order, alongside an additional N490.3 million recovered from the bank's internal ledger.
Following an interim forfeiture order granted in October 2025 and a subsequent public notice inviting interested parties to contest the recovery, the court found the EFCC’s application to be meritorious.
"Having gone through the motion and attachments, I find the application meritorious and the same is accordingly granted," Justice Bogoro held.
The EFCC emphasized that the recovery serves as a critical measure in addressing the abuse of digital payment platforms and ensuring that victims of financial crimes are afforded a pathway to restitution through the legal system.