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A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Ayokunle Faji, has issued a final order for the permanent forfeiture of $1,426,175.14 (million) linked to Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, to the Federal Government.
On Tuesday, June 25, the EFCC filed a motion that prompted the court to issue a final order forfeiting the funds, which the Federal High Court in Lagos later granted.
This development comes on the heels of a similar court ruling by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, who ordered the permanent forfeiture of assets worth over N12.18 billion, also linked to Godwin Emefiele, just days earlier.
Persecondnews recalls that the anti-graft agency had earlier, on May 29, secured an interim order temporarily forfeiting the money.
The judge said the court’s decision should be advertised in newspapers to publicize and invite any parties with a legitimate interest in the funds to step forward and offer a compelling argument against the funds’ permanent surrender to the government.
This will give anyone with a legitimate claim to the funds a chance to come forward before the forfeiture becomes final, the court ruled.
During the Tuesday hearing, the EFCC’s lawyer, Mrs. Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, stated that the agency had fulfilled the requirement to publicize the court’s decision, but no one had come forward to claim the funds or contest the forfeiture.
She further alleged that the funds in question were the proceeds of illegal activities perpetrated by Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank Governor.
According to her, the EFCC’s investigation uncovered evidence that Emefiele received the $1.4 million as illicit kickbacks from multinational companies in exchange for favourable foreign exchange allocation during a period of forex crisis in the country.
She said that the court had the legal authority to order the forfeiture of these funds under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-related Offences Act, which enables the court to seize assets linked to fraudulent activities.
The forfeiture of the $1.4 million on Tuesday comes only days after the same court ordered the permanent forfeiture of choice properties worth N12.18 billion from Emefiele.
EFCC investigator David Jayeoba testified in a sworn affidavit on Tuesday in support of the forfeiture application that the agency found the $1.4 million through reliable and direct intelligence gathering, revealing the source of the funds and leading to the application for their forfeiture.
He said: “Part of the said funds, which represent the proceeds of Godwin Emefiele and his cronies’ unlawful activities, are retained in the accounts now sought to be forfeited.
“Uzeobo Anthony and Adebanjo Olurotimi were procured by Godwin Emefiele and used to conceal, retain, and disguise funds reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
“Between 2021 and 2022, when accessibility to forex in Nigeria was difficult, several international entities operating in Nigeria had to resort to different means to source forex.
“Both Uzeobo Anthony and Adebanjo Olurotimi used to collect bribes and gratification on behalf of Godwin Emefiele to get approval for accessing forex.
“One of the entities paid a total sum of $26,552,000.00 into the account domiciled in Titan Trust account number 2000000500.
“The said credits came into the account on the 9th of November 2021: $6,450,000; 15th of November 2021: $6,050,000.00; 16th of December 2021: $5,400,000.00; 23rd of December 2021: $652,000, 31th January 2022: $3,000,000.00 and on the 21st September 2022: $5,000,000.00.
“The investigation traced the funds to having been fixed into interest-yielding accounts, dissipated and laundered through a foreign account in Mauritius, and transported back to Nigeria under disguise.
“Of the total sum of $26,555,000.00 received by Donatus Limited, the balance standing in the said account as of today is $1,426,175. 14.
“It is the balance in the account that the applicant seeks to forfeit to the Federal Government of Nigeria, which has been traced to be the proceeds of unlawful activities by Godwin Emefiele and his cronies.
“That investigation further revealed that the international entities sourcing for forex were pressured into parting with huge funds to access forex during the period. And that the signatories to the account warehousing the sum of $1,426, 175.14) sought to be forfeited are at large and are making frantic efforts to dissipate the funds electronically.”
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