E-Financial
Panic as Bankers, Fraudsters Empty Customers’ Accounts
Disturbing revelations at the weekend suggested that a worrying fraud scheme-the theft customers’ ID data by employees of financial institutions is on the rise.
Investigations showed that insiders in financial institutions in Nigeria are increasingly taking advantage of highly confidential information of customers and trading same to outsiders for illegal profits.
Experts said that the fraud ring involve longtime employees and top performers who abuse their positions of trust and exploit their access to multiple areas and systems of the banks’ systems.
With the help of people on the inside, the fraud ring are now able to recruit people to assume stolen identities and withdraw funds because they knew the banks affected did not have sufficient technology and security to safeguard the customers’ information or alert the institutions when it was stolen.
In another scheme, bank customers are promised shares of mouthwatering but fake riches in return for details of their bank accounts which are subsequently emptied.
There is also phishing mails that are, but not limited to Advance fee fraud, purchase frauds, counterfeit postal money orders, online automotive fraud, counterfeit cashier’s check scam, cash the check system, PayPal Fraud, business opportunity or “Work-at-Home” schemes, money transfer fraud, dating fraud, and charity fraud and boisterous employment promises.
Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi Lagos, said that from January this year, the unit investigated about 600 cases of fraud in financial institutions.
In all the cases, the frauds were committed in connivance with bank staff.
This came as the US State Department’s ‘Money Laundering Report 2013’ dubbed Nigeria as ‘a significant center for criminal financial activity.’
Matt Baechtle, leading a team of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the department of homeland security, to collaborate with SFU for the purpose of fine-tuning measures on how to tackle the threat posed by cyber-attackers, said that internet fraudsters and corrupt officials and business people, as well as criminal and terrorist organisations are allegedly taking advantage of the country’s location, porous borders, weak laws and lack of enforcement to perpetrate cyber-crime.
The introduction of the Money Laundering Act in February represents some of the milestones recorded by Nigeria in her chase to combat cyber-threat; however, more needed to be done to delist the country from being counted among the world’s 59 most vulnerable cyber prone countries.
Ogunsakin also identified problems and challenges in handling bank frauds to include lack of well equipped forensic laboratories, lack of data base of criminals, inadequate legislation, cost of investigation, inadequate working tools, inadequate collaboration with private sector and inadequate international collaborative framework.
Speaking during International Data Corporation (IDC) road-show 2013 held in Lagos recently, Andy Norton, Threat Intelligence Architect, FireEye, noted that today’s cybercriminals, aided by their targets’ porous defenses and unwitting end users are able to deliver advanced malware that exploits systems and enables a range of malicious activities.
According to him, much of this advanced malware is being delivered via emails with malicious file attachments, adding that presently the criminals are distributing files, specifically those that are effectively bypassing traditional security defenses such as firewalls, next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), anti-virus (AV), and secure gateways.
He quoted Gartner’s earlier warning that “Organizations face an evolving threat scenario that they are ill-prepared to deal with….threats that have bypassed their traditional security protection techniques and reside undetected on their systems.”
Study carried by the Organisation also showed that 40% of all IT executives expect a major cybersecurity incident, while there are 9,000+ malicious websites identified per day.
Also every second 14 adults become victims of cyber crime and 95 new vulnerabilities are discovered per week.
“99% of breaches led to compromise within “days” or less with 85% leading to data exfiltration in the same time and 85% of breaches took “weeks” or more to discover. And some of the attacked are spurred by Download Stages,” he said.
Analysts have suggested that some IPS/IDS/NGFW vendors are no better at handling evasions today than they were when they released their original products, just as widening gap between hacker capabilities and security defenses put pressure on security organizations who struggle to keep up with the changing nature, complexity, and scale of attacks.
On her part, Lise Hagen, research manager, Software & IT Services, Africa, suggested that risk should become the main agenda to justify IT Security investments.
The essential guides or wining strategy should involve implementation of user awareness & education, spend smarter, initiate a metric-based approach, create a risk portfolio and plan, update, enforce, security policies.
Polaris Bank has joined the global community in celebrating International Women’s Day 2026, reaffirming its commitment to promoting gender equality, empowering women, and supporting initiatives that foster inclusive growth across society.
Polaris Bank
International Women’s Day, celebrated annually on March 8, provides an opportunity to recognize the achievements of women across all sectors while highlighting the need to accelerate action towards gender equality. At Polaris Bank, the day serves as a reminder of the vital role women play in driving economic growth, innovation, and community development.
Speaking in commemoration of the day, the Managing Director/CEO of Polaris Bank, Kayode Lawal, emphasized the Bank’s commitment to creating an enabling environment where women can thrive professionally and financially.
“Polaris Bank remains dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusion, opportunity, and empowerment for women. From supporting female entrepreneurs to ensuring equal opportunities within our workforce, we believe empowering women is not only the right thing to do but also a key driver of sustainable development,” the CEO stated.
Over the years, Polaris Bank has implemented several initiatives aimed at supporting women-led businesses, promoting financial inclusion, and strengthening leadership opportunities for women within the organization. These efforts align with the Bank’s broader commitment to sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.
As part of this year’s celebration, the Bank will spotlight inspiring stories of hope from women across the community, within its workforce and customer base, while encouraging meaningful conversations around leadership, financial empowerment, and gender equity.
Polaris Bank continues to champion initiatives that create opportunities for women to succeed, recognizing that empowering women ultimately leads to stronger families, thriving communities, and a more resilient economy.
Benedict Ikechukwu Anekwe, an Enugu-based lawyer, and C.K.C. Idu, a magistrate, have been accused of allegedly conspiring to fraudulently withdraw ₦3.5million from the corporate account of Ohha Microfinance Bank Limited through what the bank described as a manipulated garnishee court process.
Ohha Microfinance Bank is a financial institution based in Enugu, Nigeria, committed to providing accessible and reliable banking services to individuals and small businesses
Ohha Microfinance Bank in a petition dated March 6, 2026 and submitted to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, demanded disciplinary action against the lawyer and the magistrate.
In the petition signed by Philip Onwukwe, managing director of the bank, the institution accused Anekwe of “using the instrumentality of the court to steal” from its corporate account.
“We write to you… seeking your urgent intervention and action in respect of this complaint which borders on fraud, stealing and unprofessional conduct of Benedict Ikechukwu Anekwe Esq.,” the petition read.
According to the petition, the controversy began with a judgment delivered on July 11, 2025 by Chief Magistrate O.P. Okoro in Enugu in Suit No. CME/1087/2023, involving Okoye Sunday and Ifesinachi Nnam.
The court reportedly awarded ₦2.5 million in favour of Okoye Sunday.
To enforce the judgment, Anekwe filed garnishee proceedings against 14 banks, including Ohha Microfinance Bank, seeking to attach funds belonging to the judgment debtor, Ifesinachi Nnam.
On July 29, 2025, the court issued an Order Nisi directing banks to attach any money belonging to the debtor.
The order stated that: “All monies in possession of the Garnishees belonging to Ifesinachi Nnam… be attached to satisfy the judgment sum of ₦2,500,000 together with the cost of this garnishee proceedings.”
However, the bank said the order applied strictly to the account of the judgment debtor and not to the corporate account of the bank itself, moreover, the judgement debtor has no financial account with the bank.
“It is crystal clear from the wordings of the Order that the Order Absolute made by His Worship Okoro was made against the account of Ifesinachi Nnam… but not against the corporate account of Ohha Microfinance Bank Limited,” the bank said.
The bank alleged that instead of serving the order on the bank to verify whether the judgment debtor had an account with it, Anekwe allegedly initiated another garnishee action directly against the bank before a different magistrate.
The fresh suit, CME/1554M/2025, Okoye Sunday v. Ohha Microfinance Bank Ltd, was filed before Magistrate C.K.C. Idu, his close associate, after the judgement debtor had filed notice of appeal and got a stay of execution in the previous court.
The petitioner explained that despite the pending appeal and stay of execution, on October 10, 2025, Magistrate Idu granted another Order Nisi attaching ₦3.5 million from the bank’s corporate account held with Ecobank Plc.
The bank said neither the plaintiff nor the judgment debtor had any account relationship with the microfinance institution, wondering how a Magistrate could issue such an order.
“Ohha Microfinance Bank has no business relationship with the judgment creditor and the judgment debtor in the suit,” the petition stated.
It added that both Okoye Sunday and Ifesinachi Nnam “are not customers of Ohha Microfinance Bank Ltd.”
Upon discovering the court order, the bank’s lawyer filed a motion asking the court to set aside the garnishee order, arguing that it was obtained through misrepresentation.
The motion stated that the order wrongly targeted the corporate funds of the bank rather than the account of the judgment debtor.
However, according to the petition, Magistrate Idu refused to vacate the order.
Instead, on February 27, 2026, the magistrate reportedly made the order absolute and authorised the withdrawal of ₦3.5 million from the bank’s account.
The bank further alleged that after securing the court order, Anekwe personally served it on Ecobank and instructed the bank to transfer the funds to his personal account.
“That same day, the learned Chief Magistrate signed the Order Absolute and handed it over to Benedict Anekwe Esq., who rushed to Ecobank Plc and served the order,” the petition stated.
The lawyer allegedly followed up with a written instruction directing the bank to pay the money into his personal account at First Bank of Nigeria instead of a client account.
Ohha Microfinance Bank alleged that the magistrate and the lawyer acted in concert to perpetrate the alleged fraud.
“This is daylight stealing perpetrated by Benedict Ikechukwu Anekwe Esq.,” the petition stated.
The bank further alleged that Magistrate Idu ignored the clear wording of the earlier judgment issued by Magistrate O.P. Okoro, which targeted only the debtor’s account.
It also claimed that both men had previously worked together before the magistrate’s appointment to the bench.
“Our findings reveal that the learned magistrate C.K.C. Idu before his appointment worked together at CIDJAP Legal Department with Benedict Anekwe Esq., hence the reason he connived with him to perpetrate this fraud,” the bank alleged.
The bank has asked the National Judicial Council to investigate the matter and sanction both the lawyer and the magistrate.
It also demanded that the matter be referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee.
“We demand that this matter be referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee for immediate and necessary action,” the petition stated.
The bank further demanded an immediate refund of the ₦3.5 million allegedly withdrawn from its corporate account.
“We further demand that Benedict Anekwe Esq. refund immediately the sum of ₦3.5million he stole from our corporate account,” the petition added.
Efforts to reach the lawyer and the magistrate were unsuccessful, as both failed to answer multiple calls.
They also did not respond to text messages sent to their verified telephone numbers seeking their reactions.
Credit: SaharaReporters
Quest Merchant Bank Limited has successfully met the ₦50 billion minimum capital requirement mandated for merchant banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) strengthening the Bank’s capital base and reinforcing its capacity to support Nigeria’s economic transformation.
This milestone reflects investors’ continued confidence in the Bank’s long-term strategy, strong governance, and sustainable growth outlook. It also marks an important step in the Bank’s post-divestment evolution under its new ownership, positioning Quest Merchant Bank with the balance-sheet strength needed to execute its next phase of growth.
With a significantly enhanced capital base, Quest Merchant Bank is now better positioned to underwrite larger transactions and expand its advisory, capital markets, and structured financing capabilities across priority sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The CBN’s recapitalisation directive, which sets ₦50 billion as the minimum capital threshold for merchant banks, is designed to reinforce the resilience, stability, and lending capacity of Nigeria’s financial system.
By meeting this benchmark, Quest Merchant Bank reinforces its standing as a trusted financial partner in infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and corporate growth initiatives nationwide.
Afolabi Olorode, Acting Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Quest Merchant Bank, described the achievement as a defining moment in the Bank’s evolution: “This milestone marks a significant step forward for Quest Merchant Bank. Meeting the ₦50 billion capital requirement underscores investors’ confidence in our strategy and reflects the strength of our governance and franchise.
“With this strengthened capital position, we are equipped to play an even greater role in financing key sectors of the Nigerian economy, enabling private enterprise, and supporting sustainable economic expansion.
“Our focus remains clear. We will continue to continue to help our clients succeed, while serving as a trusted long-term partner in delivering sustainable growth.”
Quest Merchant Bank remains committed to responsible growth, innovation, and delivering strategic financial solutions that empower businesses and institutions across Nigeria.
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