The federal high court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of over N2 billion and other assets linked to a fraud scheme that illegally diverted funds from Union Bank customers.
Daniel Osiagor, the presiding judge, on Friday granted the
final forfeiture following an application filed by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In May, the judge granted interim forfeiture of the assets.
According to the anti-graft agency, the investigation
uncovered a fraudulent withdrawal of over N2 billion from the accounts of 575
unsuspecting customers of the bank.
Hanatu Kofar-Naisa, EFCC counsel, urged the court to
permanently forfeit the funds and assets to the federal government since they
are proceeds of unlawful activities.
The assets forfeited include N326.4 million and $480,000 in
cash, a 3-bedroom bungalow at Macedonia Street, Queens Estate, Karsana
Gwarimpa, Abuja, a house at No. 8 Grace Crescent, Efab Queens Estate, Gwarimpa,
Abuja, and multiple high-end vehicles, including a Mercedes Benz C300, BMW
SUVs, Range Rovers, and three Toyota Hilux pickups.
THE AFFIDAVIT
The affidavit to support the EFCC’s application was deposed
by Sulaiman Muhammad, an investigating officer of the anti-graft agency.
In the affidavit, Muhammad said the fraud was “monumental”
and targeted dormant or “no-debit” accounts within Union Bank.
He said the EFCC commenced an investigation after receiving
a petition from Union Bank on October 24, 2022, about how its systems were
fraudulently manipulated to facilitate unauthorised debits on customer
accounts.
Muhammad said a follow-up petition in July 2023 revealed that the amount stolen had increased to N2,007,000,000.
The officer added the bank’s audit unit had identified
suspicious transactions involving 575 accounts placed on a ‘no-debit’ status,
which were nonetheless debited using methods inconsistent with normal banking
procedures.
The investigating officer said two companies—Actus Homes
Limited and Fav Oil and Gas Limited—were central to the scheme.
He added that the funds were transferred into the accounts
of the two companies without any legitimate commercial relationship with the
customers.
According to Muhammad, Actus Homes Limited was found to have
received N681.2 million from 126 customer accounts, while Fav Oil and Gas
Limited received a cumulative N1.388 billion from 429 accounts.
He added that investigations revealed neither company had
applied for or received loans from the bank, nor did they render any service
that would justify the inflow of such large sums.
The officer said the funds were subsequently used to acquire real estate and luxury automobiles, all now forfeited by the court.
He added that the agency was able to trace N887.4 million
that had been transferred into various bank accounts, noting that large cash
sums, including those discovered in a black Escalade vehicle, now forfeited,
were recovered.
The investigation officer also said Union Bank managed to
salvage N519.1 million, which remained untouched in some of the accounts
flagged during the audit.
He said the main suspects in the fraudulent scheme are
already facing trial in a separate criminal proceeding.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com