The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the permanent forfeiture of $7 million recovered from the vault of a commercial bank to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the ruling on Monday, granting an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which argued that the funds were suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Rotimi Oyedepo, representing the EFCC, told the court that all legal procedures had been duly followed since the interim forfeiture order was issued on August 27. The commission had published notices inviting interested parties to contest the forfeiture but received no opposition.
“My lord, since August 27 that your lordship granted the order, till date, we have not received any opposition to our application. Hence, we filed a motion for final forfeiture,” Oyedepo said.
Although a lawyer, Gbenga Akande, had initially appeared in court claiming to represent an unnamed client, he failed to provide any documentation to substantiate the claim and was absent at subsequent hearings. Another lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, later appeared but raised no objection to the EFCC’s request.
Justice Nwite, after reviewing the evidence and affidavits submitted, upheld the application. “I am of the view that the application is meritorious. Consequently, the application is granted,” he ruled.
According to an affidavit by EFCC investigator Emmanuel Okeibunor, the commission received credible intelligence that $7 million had been transported under suspicious circumstances to the bank’s Victoria Island branch in Lagos between March 25 and 26.
The investigation revealed that the money was not deposited into any customer account but was instead kept in the bank’s vault without proper records. Staff interviews suggested that the funds were brought in on behalf of the Managing Director of Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited.
However, the company’s Managing Director denied depositing the funds, insisting instead that she had taken a $7 million loan from the bank, which remained unpaid.
The EFCC also faulted the bank for failing to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), despite the unusual nature of the transaction.
“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 [name withheld] Bank Limited,” Okeibunor stated.
The EFCC recovered the funds in raw cash and deposited them with the Central Bank of Nigeria for safekeeping.
With no legitimate claimants stepping forward and mounting concerns over the transaction’s legitimacy, the court ruled in favour of final forfeiture, bringing the matter to a close.
Melissa Enoch
Follow us on:
