Money laundering: Court orders freezing of 21 bank accounts, arrest of account holders

A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, has granted an order to temporarily freeze 21 bank accounts in various commercial banks.

The account holders have also been ordered to be apprehended pending investigation and prosecution.

Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order in response to a motion ex-parte filed by Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed, the counsel representing the Inspector-General of Police.

Justice Nwite further ordered the banks to provide account details, place a Post-No-Debit restriction on the accounts, and disable ATM access, while still allowing deposits into the accounts, until the investigation is completed.

Justice Nwite said: “I have listened to the submission of the learned counsel for applicant and gone through the affidavit evidence.

“I am of the view that the motion ex-parte is meritorious. The application is hereby granted except that the investigation can only last for a period of 90 days.”

The judge adjourned the case until April 3 for hearing.

While the I-G is the applicant in the motion ex-parte marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1965/V/2024, the 13 banks are sued as 1st to 13th defendants respectively.

The affected banks include Access Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Ltd, Wema Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Guarantee Trust Bank Ltd, United Bank for Africa Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, First Monument Bank Plc, Heritage Bank Plc, TAJ Bank Plc and Keystone Bank Plc.

The I-G, through his counsel, requested a temporary court order directing the listed banks to freeze the accounts mentioned in the schedule attached to this summon pending investigation and prosecution of this case.

“An order directing the banks to issue details of the account package(s) and to place a Post-No-Debit (PND) on the accounts, disable the ATM while allowing inflow into the said account as from the date of this court order.

“An order of the court directing the bank to apprehend the account holder or any person transacting business on the said account and contact the police through this number: 09011483807,” he said.