The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of $1,426,175.14 linked to Godwin Emefiele, the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The ruling was delivered on Tuesday by Justice Ayokunle Faji, following an application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Advertorial
This decision stems from an interim forfeiture order obtained by the EFCC on May 29, 2014, which temporarily seized the funds.
The court mandated that the order be published in newspapers to notify any potential claimants, providing them the opportunity to contest the forfeiture.
During Tuesday’s hearing, EFCC counsel Bilkisu Buhari-Bala stated that the commission had complied with the publication order, and no claims to the funds had been made.
Advertorial
Buhari-Bala asserted that the money was obtained through unlawful activities by Emefiele, who allegedly received kickbacks for approving foreign exchange allocations to multinational firms during Nigeria’s forex crisis.
The EFCC’s investigation revealed that Emefiele used intermediaries to conceal the illegal proceeds. David Jayeoba, an EFCC investigator, disclosed in an affidavit that the money was traced through direct intelligence.
According to the investigation, entities paid substantial bribes to secure forex approvals, with transactions funneled through accounts under fictitious names.
The funds, initially amounting to $26,552,000, were deposited into an account at Titan Trust Bank. The deposits were made between November 2021 and September 2022, in increments ranging from $652,000 to $6,450,000.
The investigation revealed that the money was subsequently laundered through foreign accounts and then reintroduced into Nigeria.
The court’s decision to forfeit the remaining $1,426,175.14 to the Nigerian government is supported by Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-related Offences Act.
This ruling follows another recent forfeiture order involving properties worth N12.18 billion linked to Emefiele, issued by Justice C.J. Aneke.
