Ladipo Sanusi/
The suspect, who claimed ownership of the N449,750,000.00 recovered from the Legico Shopping Plaza, Victoria island, Lagos, Mohammed Tauheed, confessed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that he was keeping the money for an unnamed serving government official.
The suspect also volunteered to forfeit the money to the federal government, to whom he believed the money originally belonged.
These formed part of the submission of the EFCC before Justice Rilwan Aikawa of a Federal High Court, Lagos, on Wednesday.
Justice Aikawa, consequently, ordered the temporary forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Justice Aikawa’s order was sequel to an ex-parte application filed and argued before the court by EFCC’s lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo Iseoluwa.
The EFCC, in an affidavit sworn to by one of its operatives, Moses Awolusi, averred that the agency received an intelligence report on the April 7, 2017 that money in several sacks were being warehoused in one of the shops at Legico Shopping Plaza, Victoria island, Lagos.
The intelligence, according to the EFCC, was analysed and found worthy of investigation.
Consequently, on the April 7, 2017, the shop, numbered LS64, was searched and the sum of N449,750,000.00 was found inside.
Further enquiries, according to the EFCC, revealed that the shop had not been opened for close to two years.
The anti graft agency further told the court that all efforts to ascertain the identity of the owner of the shop through the chairman and vice chairman of the plaza, Mr Sulaiman Mukthar Daba and Alhaji Ishaq Ayandiran respectively, have so far been futile.
The EFCC, therefore, requested the court to order the interim forfeiture of the money, while Tauheed should be put on notice to appear before the court within 14 days to show cause why the money found in his possession should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
After granting the order of temporary forfeiture, Justice Aikawa also ordered the EFCC to advertise the order of the court within 14 days for any interested party to come before the court to convince it about why the money should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The matter has been adjourned till May 19.
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Those who stole millions in dollars were granted access through a court order, when it's obvious they were proceeds from shady deals and stolen money from government. Why such a double standard? Jail them all and let them forfeits all hidden money recovered.
The more we here about so called stolen money recovered while Nigeria infrastructures, schools and economy remains in such a pathetic states, the more difficult it becomes for the poor citizens observing.