First Bank of Nigeria, a major financial institution with a market capitalisation of ₦829 billion, has initiated legal proceedings to recover substantial sums of money allegedly embezzled by an employee from its head office in Iganmu, Lagos. The suspect, now on the run, reportedly siphoned funds into 98 bank accounts, one of which belongs to his wife.
The bank reported the fraud to the Nigerian Police Force on March 25, 2024, and secured three court orders between April 4 and April 8, 2024, to freeze numerous accounts suspected of receiving the diverted funds.
Sources with direct knowledge of the incident revealed that while the initial discovery pointed to ₦12 billion being diverted, the figure has since escalated to approximately ₦40 billion ($29 million).
The employee in question, identified in court documents as Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, was a manager on First Bank’s electronic products team. He had the authority to process reversals for customer transactions, allowing him access to an account used for these reversals. Instead of following protocol, Muiz allegedly redirected customer refund requests to a merchant account he controlled. As the final authorizer in the process, he required no additional approvals, enabling him to carry out the scheme for nearly two years undetected.
The fraud came to light when a customer lodged a complaint, which was subsequently escalated to the bank’s internal control unit. This unit identified several irregular transactions and promptly reported them to the authorities.
In a letter dated May 10, 2024, addressed to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, First Bank stated, “We hereby bring to your notice the discovery of fraudulent transactions within and outside the bank and request your good offices to initiate a thorough investigation to identify the circumstances surrounding the fraud and ensure the perpetrators are apprehended to face the full extent of the law.”
First Bank declined to respond to repeated calls and emails from TechCabal for comments. Similarly, representatives from the Nigerian Police Force and the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were unavailable for immediate comment.
According to a statement from the investigating police officer, signed on March 26, 2024, “I discovered that one Muiz Tijani Adeyinka, a former staff of First Bank, was involved in the unauthorized posting of fraudulent transactions.” The statement further noted that “He conducted fraudulent transactions to his wife’s account (name withheld) at Zenith Bank, which subsequently transferred funds to 34 additional accounts, leading to second-tier beneficiaries across 1,190 accounts at various banks.”
While court documents and complaints detail the fraudulent activities, First Bank has not specified the exact amount stolen, nor has it outlined the method used by Muiz to perpetrate the fraud, beyond urging the police to uncover the fraud’s details.
Fraud continues to be a significant challenge in Nigeria’s financial services sector, even as reported cases decreased in Q1 2024. Large banks often find themselves targeted by sophisticated fraud operations. According to BusinessDay, Access Bank lost ₦6.15 billion to fraud in 2023, while Fidelity Bank suffered a ₦2.5 billion loss across three incidents.
First Bank obtained a Federal High Court order on April 8, 2024, to freeze the accounts of both primary and secondary beneficiaries implicated in the fraudulent activities. Additional orders were secured on April 8 and May 5, 2024, from high courts in Lagos and Jalingo to block more accounts potentially involved in the case.
An anonymous tip indicated that one beneficiary account used the embezzled funds to purchase USDT, a stablecoin, from several cryptocurrency traders. These traders, who insist they were unaware the funds were proceeds of fraud, are now entangled in legal disputes with First Bank, facing account restrictions at the time of this report.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.