Federal Court Orders Forfeiture of N81.1 Million in Sterling Bank Fraud Case

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the permanent forfeiture of N81.1 million to the federal government in favour of Sterling Bank Plc, after the funds were traced to customers who exploited a technical fault in the bank’s systems to steal money.

Justice Yelim Bogoro issued the ruling on Monday following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which had been investigating the fraud since 2022.

How the Fraud Happened

According to EFCC investigator Maina Gapani Gyal, Sterling Bank first alerted the commission to the scheme in a petition dated 18 July 2022. Investigations revealed that a glitch in the PAYATTITUDE Global Ltd payment platform, a licensed Nigerian payment scheme used for mobile, USSD, and digital transactions, allowed certain customers to transfer funds from unfunded accounts. In total, over N2.5 billion was fraudulently moved before the fault was identified.

The bank ultimately recovered N81.1 million from fraudulent transactions, with an additional N490.3 million recovered from its internal ledger.

The Paper Trail

EFCC lawyers told the court that a significant portion of the stolen funds was traced to Sulaiman Ojora, identified as one of the primary beneficiaries. Investigators found that Ojora allegedly concealed N43 million in an account belonging to an associate, Taiwo Oluwaseyi Alawode, held with Access Bank. A further N122.2 million was traced to an account in the name of his wife, Aminat Olatanwa Ojora, domiciled with Sterling Bank.

The Legal Process

The court had previously granted an interim forfeiture order on 2 October 2025, directing the EFCC to publish notice of the order in a national newspaper to give any interested parties the opportunity to contest it. The notice appeared in The Punch on 19 February 2026. No claimant came forward.

Satisfied with the application and supporting documents, Justice Bogoro confirmed the final forfeiture order. “Having gone through the motion and attachments, I find the application meritorious and the same is accordingly granted,” he said.

This is not the first time Sterling Bank has secured court backing to recover funds lost to a system glitch. In May 2025, the same court ordered the final forfeiture of approximately N1.29 billion that had been fraudulently withdrawn under similar circumstances, following a petition also linked to the N2.5 billion theft.