Court Orders Interim Forfeiture Of Ikoyi Flat Over Recovery Of $43.4m NIA’s Money
Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered the temporary forfeiture of Flat 7B Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recovered the sums of $43,449,947, £27,800 and N23,218,000 in April this year to the federal government.
Justice Saidu ordered the interim forfeiture of the building to the government after entertaining an ex parte application moved by the counsel to the anti-graft agency, Rotimi Oyedepo.
Oyedepo told the judge that the funds used to acquire the property belongs to the federal government but was fraudulently converted to the use of one Chobe Ventures, which was used to acquire the property.
The EFCC had, while arguing the application, named the wife of the Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mrs. Folashade Oke, as the alleged owner of the flat.
The EFCC had alleged that it found out that Mrs. Oke made a cash payment of $1.658m for the purchase of the flat between August 25 and September 3, 2015.
She was said to have purchased the property in the name of a company, Chobe Ventures Limited, to which she and her son, Master Ayodele Oke Junior, were directors.
Payment for the purchase of the flat was said to have been made to one Fine and Country Limited.
The EFCC stated that Mrs. Oke made the cash payment in tranches of $700,000, $650,000 and $353,700 to a Bureau de Change company, Sulah Petroleum and Gas Limited, which later converted the sums into N360,000,000 and subsequently paid it to Fine and Country Limited for the purchase of the property.
The anti-graft agency had tendered the receipt issued by Fine and Country Limited to Chobe Ventures Limited as an exhibit before the Federal High Court, where it is got an order of final forfeiture of the recovered money to the Federal Government.
The commission had also claimed that the circumstances leading to the discovery of the huge sums stockpiled in Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, leaves no one in doubt that the act was pursuant to an unlawful activity.
“The very act of making cash payment of $1.6m without going through any financial institution by Mrs. Folashade Oke for the acquisition of Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, is a criminal act punishable by the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Amendment Act. I refer My Lord to sections 1(a), 16(d) and 16(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Amendment Act,” a counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court on Friday.
In an affidavit filed before the court, a Detective Inspector with the EFCC, Mohammed Chiroma, stated that “Chobe Ventures Limited is not into any business but was merely incorporated to retain proceeds of suspected unlawful activities of Mrs. Folashade Oke.”
After listening to the EFCC and reviewing the evidence submitted in proof of the application, Justice Saidu granted the interim forfeiture order and directed the EFCC to advertise the order within 14 days in any national dailies to serve as notice to Chobe Ventures, its directors and any interested persons to come before the court to show cause why the property should not be permanently forfeited to the FG.
He adjourned till the 30th of November for such interested party to appear in court.
