Wema Bank PLC has taken legal action against 26 financial institutions, seeking to recover N888,301,598.15 allegedly withdrawn illegally due to a system glitch.
The bank has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, requesting a preservative order to prevent the dissipation of the unauthorized funds.
According to an affidavit submitted by Kehinde Buari, Head of Special Review & Investigation at Wema Bank, the issue arose on January 16, 2025, when a glitch in one of the bank’s core banking applications led to unauthorized fund transfers from customers’ accounts.
Some of these funds were traced to accounts within Wema Bank, while others were transferred to accounts held by the defendant financial institutions.
Following the incident, Wema Bank launched an investigation and promptly alerted the financial institutions involved. Some of these banks responded by restricting and sequestering the unauthorized funds, leading to the recovery of N888,301,598.15.
However, further investigations revealed that some recipients attempted to conceal or move the funds across multiple accounts to avoid detection.
Due to the complexity of the transactions, Wema Bank engaged the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to facilitate further tracing of the funds.
The NIBSS exchanged correspondence with the banks involved, confirming that substantial amounts were traced and could be recovered.
To secure the return of the funds, Wema Bank has approached the court for several orders, including:
“An order directing the 26 financial institutions to return all illegally transferred funds to Wema Bank, as documented in court exhibits.
“An order mandating the return of any additional funds that may be traced to unauthorized transfers from Wema Bank.
“An order compelling the financial institutions to disclose the details of account holders who received and dissipated the funds without authorization.
“An order placing the Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) of the recipients on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Credit Risk Management System List and other watchlists until the full recovery of the funds.
Wema Bank emphasized that while some funds have been salvaged, the ongoing legal process is crucial to ensuring full recovery and preventing financial misconduct in the industry.
The case now awaits the court’s ruling on the bank’s application.
