N81.1m from Sterling Bank Glitch Fraud Forfeited to FG
The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N81,108,143.08 linked to a banking fraud involving Sterling Bank Plc to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice Yelim Bogoro gave the ruling on Monday following a motion on notice filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its counsel, Hannatu U. KofarNaisa.
The court had earlier issued an interim forfeiture order on October 2, 2025, directing that the funds be temporarily seized and that the order be published in a national newspaper for any interested party to show cause why the money should not be permanently forfeited.
Investigations revealed that the funds were part of over N2.5 billion allegedly stolen by some customers of Sterling Bank through unauthorized transfers that occurred during a system glitch experienced by the bank.
According to the EFCC, the glitch allowed customers using the PayAttitude Global Ltd banking platform, an e-wallet and payment service linked to Sterling Bank, to transfer funds from their accounts even when they had insufficient balances.
The anti-graft agency stated that the fraud came to light after Sterling Bank petitioned the commission on July 18, 2022, prompting an investigation that traced portions of the stolen money to several accounts.
One of the major beneficiaries identified in the investigation was Sulaiman Kehinde Ojora, who allegedly diverted large sums from the compromised system.
The EFCC said Ojora concealed N43 million in the account of his associate, Taiwo Oluwaseyi Alawode, domiciled in Access Bank, while N122.2 million was traced to the account of his wife, Aminat Olatanwa Ojora, maintained with Sterling Bank.
In an affidavit deposed to by EFCC investigator Maina Gapani Gyal, the commission stated that the bank was unable to recover N295,916,201.02 of the stolen funds as they had already been withdrawn or converted by the beneficiaries.
However, investigators were able to trace and salvage N81,108,143.08, which the court has now ordered to be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
The affidavit also disclosed that the bank separately recovered N490,349,000 from its internal ledger in the course of addressing the financial breach.
