Customers of Access Bank Plc have allegedly lost N1.34 billion to an unauthorised fund transfer scheme, prompting the Federal High Court in Lagos to order 71 banks and other financial institutions to restrict accounts linked to the funds.
Justice Akintayo Aluko issued the order on Friday following an ex parte application filed by Access Bank through its counsel, Ifeoma E. Enyinnaya.
The bank told the court that it discovered the fraud on August 12, 2026, after resuming operations, and that the incident involved some accounts domiciled with the bank.
According to documents filed before the court, the alleged fraud was perpetrated through Access Bank’s internet banking platform, the Access SME App.
The bank said its internal investigation revealed that N1,340,425,393 was transferred without authorisation from customers’ accounts to several accounts domiciled with Access Bank and 71 other financial institutions.
Access Bank subsequently approached the court for orders aimed at restricting the movement of the funds and facilitating their recovery.
The bank sought an order directing itself and the 71 respondents to place post-no-debit restrictions on all bank accounts and Bank Verification Numbers linked to the unauthorised funds, to the extent of the amounts received by each beneficiary.
It also asked the court to compel the affected financial institutions to file affidavits disclosing the amounts recovered or still available in the beneficiary accounts.
In addition, Access Bank sought an order directing the institutions to watchlist the BVNs linked to the accounts that received the funds until the entire N1.34 billion was recovered, subject to the amounts received by individual beneficiaries.
The bank further asked the court to order the reversal of all recovered funds into its account, number 0703060877, domiciled with Access Bank.
Justice Aluko granted the first three reliefs sought by the bank but declined the fourth, ruling that the request for the outright reversal of the funds appeared to amount to a final order at an interlocutory stage.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until August 31, 2026.
The 71 respondents named in the suit include commercial banks, microfinance banks, payment service banks, fintech companies and other financial institutions.
They include Accion Microfinance Bank, Addosser Microfinance Bank, Alternative Bank, Alpha Morgan Bank, Bank 78 Microfinance Bank, Blueridge Microfinance Bank, Bosak Microfinance Bank, Branch International Financial Services, Carbon Microfinance Bank, Changan RTS Microfinance Bank, Cintrust Microfinance Bank, Dash Microfinance Bank, Ecobank, Etranzact International, FairMoney Microfinance Bank, Fewchore Finance Bank and FHA Mortgage Bank.
Others are Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Globus Bank, GoMoney, Guaranty Trust Bank, Indulge Microfinance Bank, Infinity Microfinance Bank, Jaiz Bank, Kegow, Keystone Bank, Kongapay, Kuda Microfinance Bank, LAPO Microfinance Bank, Lotus Bank, MoMo Payment Service Bank, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, Net Microfinance Bank, New Edge Finance, Nirsal Microfinance Bank, Nombank, NowNow Microfinance Bank, Opay Digital Services, Optimus Bank, Paga and PalmPay.
The list also includes Parallex Bank, Polaris Bank, Premium Trust Bank, Providus, Renmoney Microfinance Bank, Safe Haven Microfinance Bank, Signature Bank, Smartcash Payment Service Bank, Source Microfinance Bank, Sparkle, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Summit Bank, SunTrust Bank, Supreme Microfinance Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, TAJ Bank, Tatum Bank, Tenn Microfinance Bank, Titan Trust Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, VFD Microfinance Bank, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank, 9 Payment Service Bank and 9jaPay Microfinance Bank.
The court’s order is expected to prevent further movement of the disputed funds while the affected institutions provide information on the accounts that received the money and the amounts that may still be recoverable.
The matter is expected to return before the Federal High Court in Lagos on August 31, when further proceedings on the bank’s application will continue.
