Justice Friday Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos has granted bail to three men arraigned before him by the police for allegedly hacking into Lotus Bank and stealing N60,479,480 from its vault.
Justice Ogazi admitted Mohammed Abubakar, Isiyaka Hussein and Musa Mohammed to bail for N30 million each, with one surety for a similar sum.
The judge decided to grant the defendants bail after the police prosecutor, Yakubu Bello, did not oppose the application filed by the defence lawyer, I. S. Ishola.
The bail conditions include that the surety must be a landed property owner with valid title documents within the court’s jurisdiction or a civil servant not below Grade Level 12 in either a Lagos or Federal government ministry or establishment.
The trial for the alleged hackers has been adjourned to January 26, 2026.
The defendants were docked before the court in September 2025 by the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos, over a six-count charge of conspiracy, cybercrime, and the fraudulent removal of N60,479,480 from the bank vault.
Abubakar also told the court that the defendants, without lawful authority, fraudulently compromised and hacked into Lotus Bank’s core banking application, allowing their accomplices to transfer funds from their individual accounts without debiting their accounts, amounting to N35,479,480.00.
He also claimed that without lawful authority, the defendants indirectly modified data held in Lotus Bank’s core banking application, leading to unauthorised transfers from private accounts to other accounts.
They allegedly committed the offences alongside others currently at large on September 17, 2024.
The prosecutor told the court that the offences violate sections 27(b), 14(4), and 16(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act (as amended) 2024, which is punishable under Section 27(2) of the same act.
He also maintained that the offences are contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same act.
Their alleged crimes also contravened Section 383(2)(a) of the Criminal Code Act CAP. C38, punishable under Section 390(9) of the same act.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges numbered FHC/L/768c/2025.
