A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the final forfeiture of seven million dollars found in the vault of a Providus Bank branch in Ikoyi, Lagos, to the federal government. Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the ruling after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed an application seeking permanent forfeiture of the funds. According to the EFCC, the money was traced to Oceangate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited but was not credited to any known customers account. Instead, it was allegedly kept in the banks vault under suspicious circumstances. An EFCC investigator, Emmanuel Okeibunor, disclosed in an affidavit that Providus Bank failed to file a suspicious transaction report with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU). Okeibunor added that some bank staff claimed the money was deposited on behalf of the companys managing director, who later denied making such a deposit. The managing director insisted that the sum represented a loan she had obtained from Providus Bank, which she had not yet repaid. The EFCC had earlier secured an interim forfeiture order on August 27. At the following hearing, lawyer Gbenga Akande appeared in court for an unnamed interested party but failed to disclose the identity of the client. On Monday, another lawyer, Darlington Ozurumba, represented a party in the matter but did not oppose the EFCCs request for final forfeiture. Justice Nwite ruled that the anti-graft agencys application was meritorious and subsequently ordered that the $7 million be permanently forfeited to the federal government.
0 Comments