Court Freezes Bank’s N7.15bn Over Alleged Breach Of Trust

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has ordered the freezing of N7.15 billion belonging to Parallex Bank Limited following a suit filed by FHT Mega Express Limited over an alleged breach of trust and failure to honour a Letters of Credit agreement.

The interim order was granted by Justice Hauwa Lawal Gummi, directing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sequester the funds in an interest-yielding account pending the determination of a motion on notice fixed for January 15, 2026.

The order followed an ex parte application in Suit No: CV/4737/2025, with Motion No: M15374/2025, granted on December 18, 2025.

The respondents in the suit are Parallex Bank Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

The court held that the funds must be preserved to prevent dissipation and to safeguard the rest of the dispute.

In a 49-paragraph affidavit deposed to by counsel to the applicant, Tolu Babalaye, Esq., FHT Mega Express stated that it deposited the sum of N7,154,677,000.00 into its account with Parallex Bank for the purpose of establishing Letters of Credit valued at $7,310,257.99 to facilitate international trade.

The applicant alleged that despite receiving the funds, the bank “failed, refused and neglected” to issue the Letters of Credit since 2023.

The applicant further accused the bank of trading with its funds without authorisation or payment of interest, while failing to release the Bills of Lading for goods imported pursuant to the Letters of Credit. According to the affidavit, the delay allegedly led to the Nigerian Customs Service auctioning the imported goods.

“The 1st Respondent has unjustly enriched itself at the expense of the Applicant,” the deponent stated, adding that the bank’s conduct amounted to negligence and a fundamental breach of mandate.

FHT Mega Express also alleged that Parallex Bank later demanded additional funds to cover foreign exchange differentials arising from volatility in the FX market, a situation it said was caused solely by the bank’s delay in sourcing foreign exchange.

“The Applicant had fully met its obligations by providing the naira equivalent upfront,” the affidavit stated, describing the additional demand as “a pretext to justify wrongful withholding” of its funds.

Justice Gummi, in granting the interim reliefs, held that the applicant had established a prima facie case warranting the preservation of the disputed funds.

The court directed the CBN and NDIC, as regulators, to secure all sums attributable to the bank pending the hearing of the substantive motion.

The applicant undertook to pay damages should the order later be found to have been wrongly granted, stating that the relief sought was “purely preservative in the interest of justice.”