A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of $7 million stashed in the vault of a Providus Bank branch in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.
The money was found in the account of the MD of an oil and
gas company owned by a prominent society woman — who is currently being
prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, on Monday, issued the
order following a final forfeiture application moved by Rotimi Oyedepo, EFCC
counsel.
According to the anti-graft agency, the interim order for
the forfeiture of the sum was issued on August 27
BACKGROUND
When the case was called last Friday, Gbenga Akande, a
lawyer, announced appearance for an interested party.
Akande refused to disclose the name of his client despite
insistence by Oyedepo and the court.
Akande told the court that when he filed an affidavit on why
the EFCC counsel should know the name of the interested party, the presiding
judge ordered Oyedepo to serve Akande with copies of the documents and
adjourned hearing to September 15.
During the resumption of hearing on Monday, Akande was not
present in court.
However, Darlington Ozurumba, another lawyer, appeared in
court for an interested party.
Subsequently Oyedepo moved the application for final
forfeiture of the money to the federal government since no party had shown
interest in the matter.
“The party showing interest at the last adjourned date was
represented by Gbenga Femi Akande, Esq,” he said.
The judge asked Ozurumba for his submission on the final
forfeiture application.
Ozurumba said he was not opposing the application.
Afterwards, Nwite ruled that the EFCC application was
meritorious and ordered the final forfeiture of the sum to the federal
government.
THE AFFIDAVIT
The affidavit in support of the ex-parte application was
deposed by Emmanuel Okeibunor, an EFCC investigator.
Okeibunor said the agency received a credible report
alleging that $7 million was, in suspicious circumstances, conveyed to and kept
in the Providus Bank branch.
The investigator said the report was assigned to his team to
analyse and — if found credible — proceed on investigation.
Okeibunor said investigation revealed that the sum was not
credited to any known customers’ account, but rather surreptitiously kept in
the bank’s vault.
The investigator said some of the bank staff interviewed had
alleged that the money was brought to the bank for and on behalf of the
managing director, Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited.
“My team interviewed the managing director of Oceangate
Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, in respect of the seven million dollars, who
insisted that she did not take any money to Providus Bank,” Okeibunor said.
“My team was equally informed by the managing director of
Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited that she took a loan of seven million
dollars from Providus Bank Limited, which she is yet to pay back to the bank.
“That Providus Bank Limited did not file a suspicious
transaction report (STR) to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in
respect of this transaction.
“That the funds sought to be forfeited are reasonably
suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity, as they did not represent known,
provable, and legitimate income of either Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas
Limited, the couriers, or officials of Providus Bank Limited.
“The funds sought to be forfeited are also reasonably
suspected to have been abandoned, as nobody came forward to claim the funds
from the Providus Bank Limited or the commission that recovered the same.”
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