In a sweeping legal offensive against digital financial crime, Access Bank Plc has dragged 71 financial institutions to the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking to claw back ₦1.34 billion siphoned from the corporate accounts of four major firms through unauthorized internet banking transactions.
The massive digital heist, uncovered by the bank’s internal monitoring systems on August 12, 2026, targeted the Access SME internet banking platform. The illicit transfers targeted four prominent corporate entities:
- MIB TXN Bullion (Aba Branch): ₦590,975,889
- AIICO General Insurance Company Limited: ₦420,449,504
- Apogee Engineering Limited: ₦136,000,000
- SIMS Nigeria Limited: ₦193,000,000
A Complex Web Across 71 Institutions
Court filings under the ex-parte application marked FHC/LAG/MISC/1168/2026 reveal that the stolen funds were rapidly split and funneled into a labyrinth of accounts spread across Access Bank and 71 other financial institutions, including commercial banks, microfinance banks, and digital fintech platforms.
Faced with the lightning-fast dispersal characteristic of sophisticated cyber syndicates, Access Bank’s legal counsel, Ifeoma E. Enyinnaya, approached the court for an emergency asset-preservation order.
The bank prayed the court to compel the 71 institutions to:
- Place immediate Post-No-Debit (PND) restrictions on all recipient accounts and associated Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs).
- Disclose the remaining cash balances available in those beneficiary accounts.
- Place the implicated BVNs on a systemic financial watchlist.
- Direct the ultimate reversal of successfully traced and recovered funds back to Access Bank.
The Court Rulings
Presiding over the matter, Justice Akintayo Aluko held that the primary duty of the court in such high-stakes financial litigation is to safeguard the subject matter and prevent the permanent dissipation of suspected criminal proceeds.
Consequently, the court granted three of the major reliefs sought, placing systemic freeze orders and watchlists across the board on the designated accounts. However, Justice Aluko declined the fourth prayer seeking the immediate reversal of recovered funds at this preliminary stage, noting that doing so would amount to prematurely determining the substantive suit before a full trial.
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Furthermore, Justice Aluko ordered Access Bank’s legal team to file a formal undertaking as to damages should the interim freezing orders later be proven unwarranted.
The case has been adjourned to August 31, 2026, for further hearing. Legal analysts note that the unfolding litigation sets a critical precedent for multi-institution asset tracking and inter-bank cooperation in combating sophisticated electronic fraud across Nigeria’s digital payment ecosystem.
