Access Bank Plc has approached the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking an order to freeze accounts linked to beneficiaries of an alleged unauthorised transfer of N1.34 billion from four of its customers’ accounts.
The bank filed the application, marked Suit No. FHC/LAG/CS/1168/2026, against 71 financial institutions and payment service providers, asking the court to preserve the funds allegedly transferred through its Access SME App.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the application, the alleged fraud was discovered when the bank resumed operations on August 12, 2026.
Access Bank said its preliminary investigation showed that four customer accounts were affected, with a total of N1,340,425,393 allegedly transferred without authorisation.
The affected accounts include MIB TXN Bullion-Aba Branch, from which N590,975,889 was allegedly transferred; AllCO General Insurance Company Limited, involving N420,449,504; Apogee Engineering Limited, involving N136 million; and Sims Nigeria Limited, involving N193 million.
The bank said its internal investigation traced portions of the funds to accounts domiciled with Access Bank and the 71 respondent financial institutions.
“The Applicant’s internal investigation revealed that monies moved from the accounts without authorisation had been dissipated to several accounts domiciled with the Applicant and the 1st–71st Respondents,” the affidavit stated.
Access Bank also said it traced the Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) associated with the alleged beneficiaries and identified other accounts linked to the BVNs.
The lender is asking the court to direct the respondent banks, fintechs and payment service providers to place post-no-debit (PND) restrictions on accounts and BVNs linked to the allegedly diverted funds.
Under the proposed order,…
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