Federal High Court, Abuja, Tuesday ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of N354, 000 uncovered by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Operatives of the anti-graft agency made this discovery during investigations into the N49 million intercepted at the Kaduna International Airport.
This matter was established by the EFCC on March 13, 2017.
It would be recalled that Oyebanji Steve, Taiye Omoniyi Oluwaleke, Risikat Taimiyu Titilayo, Fausat Oni, and Joshua Kisabo had laid claim to the N49 million and challenged the confiscation of the money by the EFCC.
But the EFCC spokesman, Tony Orilade in a statement disclosed, “During further investigation, one of the claimants led a team of operatives to Deidei, a suburb in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, where in the process of executing a search, some thugs had attacked operatives, but the attack was repelled by police officers on the team.â€
Orilade added, “A bag containing the N354,000 was uncovered, abandoned by some persons suspected to be engaging in unlawful selling of new naira notesâ€.
He also affirmed that the money was made up of N200 and N50 notes (mint) abandoned at the scene, which was confiscated and taken to the Kaduna office of the EFCC.
Orilade said since the seizure, nobody has come to claim the money, hence, it was suspected to be proceeds of crime.
It was learnt that it was on this premise that Justice Nnamdi Dimgba granted an interim forfeiture order of the said amount following an ex parte motion filed by the EFCC on March 13, 2018.
Also, the EFCC consequently moved a motion on notice for the final forfeiture of the money, having published the interim forfeiture order in the national newspapers, as ordered by the Court.
Delivering his ruling today, Dimgba eventually granted the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
