Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, have ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of 13 million naira recovered from one Chinedu Vincent Ezeudemba to the Federal Government.
This was revealed in a statement via the official Facebook page of the commission on Monday.
Ezeudemba was said to have obtained the money from a victim by claiming that he had Chinese Yuan to exchange for Naira.
The Judge gave the order, following a motion on notice filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its lawyer, C.C. Okezie.
According to the statement, Justice Dipeolu had earlier ordered the interim forfeiture of the fund and ordered that it’s widely publicized in a national newspaper for any interested party to prove why the amount should not be finally forfeited to the Federal Government.
The EFCC lawyer, while moving the application for the final forfeiture of the money informed the court that a deposed affidavit by an operative of the EFCC, Abubakar Gozaki, supported the motion.
Read also: EFCC arraigns Bauchi accountant general, others over alleged N8.3bn fraud
The affidavit was said to contain a petition received against one Chinese, Liu Hui Jing, and Chinedu Vincent Ezeudemba for allegedly obtaining by false pretence and forgery an amount of 40 million naira.
Gozaki explained that instead of fulfilling his promise to the victim, he instead issued fake telex copies.
The statement revealed, “Moving the application for the final forfeiture of the money, Okezie told the court that the application was supported with an affidavit deposed to by Abubakar Gozaki, an operative of the EFCC.
“In the affidavit, Gozaki told the court that the Commission received a petition against one Liu Hui Jing and Chinedu Vincent Ezeudemba for allegedly obtaining by false pretence and forgery to the tune of N40,000,000.
According to him,” Sometime in June 2023, Chinedu Vincent Ezeudemba falsely represented to the victim that he had Chinese Yuan and wanted to exchange it for Naira.
“Based on that pretence, the sum of N40,000,000 was transferred to Ezeudemba’s Opay account number, 9065945449.
“However, upon payment of the said sum, the suspect refused to transfer the Chinese Yuan to the victim; rather, he issued fake telex copies.”
Furthermore, Gozaki, in the affidavit confirmed an investigation revealing that the suspect converted the sum of 27 million naira for his own personal benefit, with an outstanding balance of 13 million naira which is the subject of the final forfeiture.
“Gozaki, in the affidavit, also stated that investigation revealed that the suspect converted the sum ofN27,000,000 to his personal benefit, with an outstanding balance of N13,000,260, which is now the subject of the final forfeiture.” Gozaki stated.
With proof from the affidavit, the EFCC lawyer told the court that the 13 million naira, found in Ezeudemba’s account is suspected to be proceeds from unlawful activities, expressing that the interim forfeiture order had been published in a national newspaper in compliance with the directive of the court.
“Okezie, therefore, told the court that the sum of N13m found in the account of Chinedu Vincent Ezeudemba was reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.
“She further submitted that the interim forfeiture order had been published in a national newspaper in compliance with the directive of the court,” the statement revealed.
Meanwhile, Justice Dipeolu, after listening to the EFCC’s counsel, endorsed the applicant’s argument and ordered the final forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
