Court Orders Final Forfeiture of N1.2 Billion Stolen from Sterling Bank

Lagos, Nigeria – May 9, 2025
Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has ordered the final forfeiture of N1,292,798,746.81 (One Billion, Two Hundred and Ninety-Two Million, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Eight Thousand, Seven Hundred and Forty-Six Naira, Eighty-One Kobo) to the Federal Government of Nigeria, in favour of Sterling Bank Plc.

The forfeiture follows a criminal case of fraudulent withdrawals resulting from a system glitch experienced by Sterling Bank Plc. The bank had petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleging that over N2.5 billion had been illegally siphoned.

Following investigations, the EFCC traced and froze the stolen funds across several bank accounts. The recovered sums include:
• ₦900,000,000 in M Sharif Inter-Trading and Marketing Company Ltd.’s UBA account
• ₦255,872,842.84 in Mustapha Abubakar’s UBA account
• ₦12,195,093 in Mustapha Sharif Abubakar’s UBA account
• ₦41,119,917.13 in Mustapha Sharif Abubakar’s Jaiz Bank account
• ₦19,069,567.73 in Abubakar Mustapha Sharif’s First Bank account
• ₦30,850,158.12 in Mustapha Sharif Abubakar’s Sterling Imal (alternative bank) account

The EFCC, through its counsel Hannatu U. KofarNaisa, filed a motion on January 8, 2025, seeking the final forfeiture of the funds. An earlier interim forfeiture order was granted on March 12, 2025, with the court directing the publication of the notice in a national daily to allow any interested parties to contest the action.

The EFCC complied by publishing the order in The Punch newspaper on March 24, 2025. No objections were raised.

Delivering judgment, Justice Dipeolu ruled:

“Having gone through the motion and attachments, I find the application meritorious and same is accordingly granted.”

With this ruling, the court officially forfeited the recovered N1.2 billion to the Federal Government, with the funds designated to be held in trust for Sterling Bank Plc.

The decision marks a significant victory in the fight against financial fraud and reinforces efforts to protect Nigeria’s financial institutions from systemic vulnerabilities and exploitation.