EFCC gets court order to freeze account over N1.06bn fraud claims

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has received a court order to freeze an account owned by Yili Fu Liang Trading Co. Ltd. This follows claims of an unauthorized transfer of N1.065 billion from Renmoney Microfinance Bank through illegal electronic transactions.

On 16 October, Judge Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court in Lagos approved the order after the EFCC made an ex parte application in case number FHC/LAG/MISC/1392/2026.

The EFCC also requested the court to put six Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) on a watchlist while investigations and possible prosecution are ongoing.

In a statement on Thursday, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale said the commission started looking into the case after receiving a petition from Blackwood Law. This law firm represented Renmoney Microfinance Bank Limited and submitted the petition on 21 September.

The petition raised concerns about unauthorized transactions made through the bank’s electronic platform on 18 September. According to an affidavit supporting the application, there were 12 suspicious transactions between 4:52 p.m. and 8 p.m. on that day, leading to the bank's financial loss of N1.065 billion.

Gbolahan Dada, an EFCC investigator with the Bank Fraud Section, said their preliminary findings traced the funds to accounts linked to Yili Fu Liang Trading Co. Ltd. These accounts were associated with a collection account managed through Kora Payment Network.

The statement revealed that investigators found nine inflows totaling N1,065,500,000 into the collection account on 18 September. Mr Dada also claimed that those holding the accounts had no matching funds before the transactions took place.

He explained that it was important to keep the funds intact while the investigation and potential prosecution were still in progress. The investigator also mentioned that checks on the BVN portal and account-opening documents linked the six BVNs in the application to the company.

He alleged that the people behind the company were Nigerians working under a Chinese company, and they needed to be questioned as part of the investigation. The EFCC told the court that freezing the account and placing the BVNs on a watchlist were necessary to stop the funds from being misused while they looked into the allegations of theft and money laundering.

The application was made under Section 44(2)(k) of the Nigerian constitution, as well as sections 26 and 28 of the EFCC Act, and the court’s inherent powers. After hearing from the commission’s lawyer, Z.B. Atiku, Justice Bogoro approved the request.

The court postponed the matter until 19 January 2027 for a report on the investigation. The claims have not yet been proven in court.