Lotus Bank Battles to Recover N1.5bn Allegedly Diverted by Staff Member

Lotus Bank Limited is seeking to recover ₦1.5 billion allegedly diverted from the bank’s system by one of its staff members, according to court documents filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The bank, in an affidavit sworn by its fraud investigation officer, Sunday Gbadebo, said an internal review covering transactions between January 2023 and May 2024, and later extended to February 2026, uncovered alleged fraudulent activities linked to Abdulkarim Arome Mohammed, an employee in the bank’s Financial Control Department.

According to the affidavit, Mohammed allegedly exploited his system access privileges to allocate profits belonging to customers into unauthorised accounts.

The bank claimed the diverted funds, amounting to ₦1,552,130,998.85, were moved through accounts across 22 financial institutions and also linked to three individuals.

Lotus Bank explained that the suspicious transactions were discovered after unusual Mudarabah profit payments were traced to certain customer accounts during a comprehensive internal review.

“Mudarabah deposits are defined as the net average balance for all types of Mudarabah deposits, whether savings or term deposits, standing in the bank’s books at the end of the month,” the bank stated in court filings.

The lender further alleged that some beneficiary accounts belonged to Mohammed’s wife, Khadijah Aliyu Shuaib, identified as a FINCO officer involved in advising on profit distribution. Other beneficiaries named in the suit include Peter Daniel and Emmas Ocheja Odogwu.

The incident, said to have occurred in May 2024, has remained before the court as the bank continues efforts to recover the funds. Additional defendants have reportedly been joined in the matter, with the latest added in February 2026. The case has been adjourned until June 16, 2026.

Efforts by The Witness to obtain comments from Damilola Kusimo of the bank’s Brand, Marketing and Communications Department were unsuccessful as of press time.

Lotus Bank commenced commercial banking operations in 2021 and is headquartered in Lagos.