The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted an interim freezing order against several accounts in Fair Money Micro-finance Bank Ltd, Palm Pay Limited, and Opay Digital Services Limited.
The court mandated these organizations to reverse N139,630,000 credited to some of their customers’ accounts as a result of a “system glitch” at TAJ Bank Ltd.
The order was made following a motion ex parte filed by Taj Bank Ltd and six of its customers on July 23, 2024, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1018/2024 against the three organizations, with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System Plc listed as the fourth respondent.
According to the affidavit filed by Muhideen Olujinmi, Unit Head of the Investigation and Fraud Management Unit at Taj Bank Limited, certain individuals took advantage of a system glitch in Taj Bank’s server to initiate multiple successful debit transactions and withdraw and transfer money from the accounts of the 2nd to 7th Plaintiffs into several accounts domiciled with FairMoney, Opay, and PalmPay.
TAJ Bank subsequently asked the court to order FairMoney, Opay, and PalmPay to reverse and refund the sum of N139,630,000 wrongfully debited from six of its customers’ accounts due to the system glitch.
Justice Peter Lifu granted the interim request from TAJ Bank on July 26, 2024, stating that the freezing order would be pending the hearing and determination of the motion. The judge also directed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Respondents to disclose on oath to the Court within 7 days of service of the order the amounts standing in the credit of the identified account holders of their institution.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, FairMoney, Opay, and PalmPay had no legal representation in court. The court subsequently adjourned the hearing to September 30, 2024, extending the interim order until the next adjourned date.