Access Bank Secures Court Order to Freeze ₦1.34 Billion in SME Banking Fraud
Access Bank Plc has secured interim orders from the Federal High Court in Lagos to preserve ₦1.34 billion allegedly transferred without authorisation from the accounts of four customers during what the bank described as a fraud incident involving its Access SME internet banking application.
The bank told the court that it discovered the incident on August 12, 2026, after experiencing glitches on its system and subsequently commencing an internal investigation.
The affected accounts, according to Access Bank, belong to MIB TXN Bullion, Aba Branch; AIICO General Insurance Company Limited; Apogee Engineering Limited; and SIMS Nigeria Limited.
The bank alleged that a combined ₦1,340,425,393 was transferred from the four accounts into multiple accounts domiciled with Access Bank and 71 other banks named as respondents in the proceedings.
In response, Access Bank filed an ex parte motion marked FHC/LAG/MISC/1168/2026, asking the court to urgently preserve the funds and prevent their further dissipation while the bank continued efforts to trace and recover the money.
The application was brought pursuant to Order 26 Rule 6 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2019, Sections 6(6)(c) and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
Access Bank asked the court to direct it and the 71 respondent banks to place Post-No-Debit (PND) orders on the accounts and Bank Verification Numbers listed in Exhibits Access 1 and Access 2, as well as any other accounts identified as having received portions of the disputed funds.
The bank requested that the restrictions apply only to the amounts allegedly received by individual beneficiaries and remain in force pending the determination of its motion on notice.
It also sought orders compelling the respondent banks to file affidavits disclosing the amounts preserved in the affected accounts.
In addition, Access Bank asked the court to direct that BVNs linked to the beneficiary accounts be watchlisted until the full ₦1.34 billion was recovered, with restrictions limited to the amounts allegedly traced to each beneficiary.
The bank further sought an order directing the immediate reversal of recovered funds in the affected accounts and other accounts linked to their BVNs into Access Bank account number 0703060877, to the extent that the funds were allegedly received by each beneficiary.
In an affidavit supporting the application, deposed to by Sodiq Jimoh, a litigation clerk at Country Hill Attorneys & Solicitors, counsel to Access Bank, the bank provided a breakdown of the alleged unauthorised transfers.
The affidavit stated that ₦590,975,889 was allegedly transferred from the account of MIB TXN Bullion, Aba Branch; ₦420,449,504 from AIICO General Insurance Company Limited; ₦136 million from Apogee Engineering Limited; and ₦193 million from SIMS Nigeria Limited.
Access Bank said its internal investigation subsequently established that the funds had been dispersed into numerous accounts held with the bank and the 71 other respondent financial institutions.
The bank said the investigation also identified the BVNs of alleged beneficiaries and other accounts linked to those BVNs, with the details compiled in exhibits submitted to the court.
According to the affidavit, Access Bank immediately contacted the respondent banks after discovering the alleged fraud, notified them of the incident and requested that they preserve any traceable funds and provide information to assist the investigation.
The bank told the court that the respondent institutions had already placed PND restrictions on some of the identified accounts but required judicial orders to sustain the restrictions.
Access Bank argued that urgent judicial intervention was necessary to preserve the disputed funds and prevent further withdrawals, transfers or other forms of dissipation before its recovery efforts could be completed.
The bank also maintained that it had a responsibility to ensure that money allegedly transferred from its customers’ accounts without authorisation was not further withdrawn or moved.
It argued that granting the application would also assist efforts to combat cybercrime, which it said posed risks to economic and national interests.
Access Bank undertook to pay damages if it was subsequently established that the interim orders should not have been granted, while warning that it could suffer irreparable financial loss without immediate intervention by the court.
After hearing submissions from Access Bank’s lawyer, Ifeoma E. Enyinnaya, Justice Akintayo Aluko held that the primary purpose of the application was to preserve the disputed funds from further dissipation.
“The essence of the application is to preserve the funds from further dissipation. The court has a duty to preserve the ‘res’,” the judge said.
Justice Aluko granted the first three reliefs sought by Access Bank, covering the PND restrictions, disclosure requirements and BVN-related preservation measures.
However, the judge declined the bank’s request for immediate reversal of the salvaged funds, holding that granting such an order at the ex parte stage would amount to something resembling a final relief.
“Reliefs 1 to 3 are grantable, while relief 4 cannot be granted at this stage, because it is more like a final order,” Justice Aluko ruled.
“Accordingly, reliefs 1 to 3 are granted while relief 4 is refused.”
The judge adjourned the matter until August 31, 2026, for further proceedings and directed Access Bank’s counsel to file an undertaking as to damages should the interim orders later be found to have been wrongly made.
The allegations remain subject to the substantive proceedings. The court has not made any final finding that the identified beneficiaries or any of the respondent banks participated in the alleged fraud.
