Sterling Bank Faces Criminal Charges Over Alleged $200m Fraud, Forgery, and Misappropriation
Story: Written by Springnewsng August 26,2025
An Abuja-based engineering and consultancy firm, Miden Systems Limited, has filed criminal charges against Sterling Bank Plc, its Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and four management staff, alleging fraudulent practices, forgery, conspiracy, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds exceeding $200 million.
The case, filed before Chief Magistrate Njideka Duru of the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate Court, was scheduled for hearing on Monday but stalled due to the ongoing Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Enugu. The matter has been adjourned to September 10, 2025.
According to the 29-page petition, the company accused the bank of:
- Opening spurious accounts in its name without consent.
- Diverting foreign inflows and dollar components meant for its operations.
- Placing its legitimate accounts under lien without notification.
- Forging signatures to approve an unsolicited $30 million loan, which was allegedly disbursed in parts ($1m and $29m) to a single beneficiary named “AA.”
- Transferring a fraudulent $3m loan from another company, Chasewood Limited, into Miden’s account under false claims of affiliation.
Miden Systems, represented by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Louis Alozie, argued that these fraudulent transactions were deliberately concealed by denying it access to cheque books, online banking, and accurate statements of account.
The company further alleged that Sterling Bank exploited currency depreciation by holding onto its $2 billion equivalent deposits when the exchange rate stood at ₦150/$1, only to later liquidate them when the naira had depreciated to ₦500/$1, thereby eroding the dollar value of its funds.
Miden also claimed that Sterling Bank fraudulently used its corporate identity to secure an unauthorized loan facility from Afrexim Bank, describing the scheme as a “massive case of identity theft and forgery.”
After exhausting internal resolutions, the firm petitioned the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, which found merit in the case and referred it to the Inspector General of Police (IGP). Investigations allegedly indicted Sterling Bank and its executives in February 2025.
The company insists it successfully exited all legitimate loan obligations with Sterling Bank as far back as July 2017, and has vowed to pursue justice against what it describes as a systematic banking fraud against its operations.
